Code: RWBY
by Homerthe27
Summary: The deed was done. Zero Requiem was achieved. Lelouch closed his eyes for the last time and prepared to die. That is until was awoken to a brand new world called Remnant. Will Lelouch help save this world as he has done in the past, or will he condemn it? (Post V5)
1. The New World

CODE: RWBY

Turn 1

* * *

 **"The New World"**

 _I destroy worlds and create it anew_

* * *

 **Lelouch**

The last thing Lelouch saw before he left this world was the face of his sister bound in chains. Her pearl eyes swelling with tears with the realization of the Zero Requiem. That he had fooled the world, made it look like he was some undefeatable evil, the worst dictator in the history of the world, and the source of all the hatred in the world. He defeated the world's heroes, The Black Knights, and overthrew the U.F.N. He became the first one in history to rule the world under his name and he had lied every step of the way there, his intention about being Zero, his intention with the world, and even his true self.

Now the rule of "Lelouch the Demon" has come to an end by the hands of Zero, the masked incarnation of justice, the symbol he created. With his breath fading Lelouch passed on the title of Zero to Suzaku, cursing him to leave his own happiness behind and uphold the peace. At that moment he believed Suzaku finally understood his goals, his means, and the reasons behind all of the death, Euphemia, Shirley and all the other countless souls that were caught in the middle. The two shared a moment of understanding and Lelouch fell by his sword, down across the Britannian flag down to his sister's side.

"Oh, big brother! I love you!" she says holding his hand, tears streaming down her face. She was always such a caring girl, much more than he could ever be. _'This was the way it was always going to be'_.He thought. Ever since he became Zero, this was the only way it would have ended. It was a bittersweet feeling, knowing she would mourn him, even after all he has done. Even when no one else would.

Lelouch looks out at a world that he would never get to see. He looks back through all that has transpired. The loving moments with Shirley. His final kiss with Kallen, where he kept silent despite her pleas. The shock of seeing Nunnally alive again and having to cast aside his joy for the requiem. Thwarting his father's scheme and rejecting his ideals of the world and how their lives should be lived. Shirley's unfortunate death and her promise to see him again in another life. Being forced to kneel before his father. His time with Rolo. A tender kiss from C.C. Euphemia's fall and being forced to kill and persecute her for her own dream. All of the antics that he went through at school, never realizing how much he loved it. The formation of the black knights and the beginning of Zero. His life's flashback ended by remembering the days of his childhood with himself, Nunnally, and Suzaku and held that moment close to his heart. With his breath going staler he looked at Nunnally one last time and mutters one last sentence with his final breath, where only the both of them could hear it.

"I….…destroy worlds…..and create it….…..a…new."

His vision now starts to fade. Only his memory of Nunnally and Suzaku to keep him company. The world around him dissolves away. First, it is with the streets as the people around him curse his name, his former comrades who stare at him in awe. Even Suzaku was no longer with him, gone in the ever consuming seas of white. It was just Nunnally and him right now. Slowly he sees the tears begin to fall. He wanted to hug her one last time, to hold her, but he could no longer have the strength. But now he must leave this world, Nunnally's world. Slowly the world of white consumes his vision and even the thought of Nunnally was no more. Everything was nothing and he was at bliss.

Until he was hit by a blast of rose petals that is.

* * *

 **Ruby**

So having a JNR v RWBY fight might not have been the ideal way to start the day, but it was bound to be the one that let off the most stress. After Weiss almost dying, Professor Lionheart _actually_ dying, that really scary image of Salem firmly implanted in everyone's mind and having her bad guy catching 1-to-10, Ruby felt like everyone could use a break. She then remembered the food fight they had in Beacon so long ago and thought it would be a good idea to recreate it, but with a twist. So the 8 of them (9 of them? Does Oscar being two people count?) went to the forest outside of Haven to have their little skirmish. Oscar was permitted to be on Jaune's team to level things out as Ozpin still hasn't recovered from his fight with Hazel so he couldn't give them an overwhelming advantage. The walk was anything but silent as Team JNR were having a "discussion".

"Cause that would require Oscar being the leader," Nora complained

"But we are all out of options at this point," Ren replied

"I am not replacing Jaune with a literal child" Nora answered

"I _am_ 14…." Oscar spoke up, feeling slightly insulted.

"A CHILD!" Nora perked

"How about NORJ?" Jaune asked

"I don't think that's a color" Ren sighed

"This is obnoxious" Weiss interrupted while wedging herself between the group.

"What you don't like the name?" Jaune asked sounding a little bit hurt.

"No, I..." The Heiress paused for a second "well actually yes Jaune, it is actually a horrible name, but that's not the point."

She turned to face Ruby, who was busy looking at the map, which her sister had gracefully re-aligned for her, so that she was now looking at it right.

"Did we have to travel this far from the city for this little match of yours?" she implored

Ruby had predicted that her partner would question the idea of having fun, so she had a retort already for her.

"Because Weiss, we need the open space for our wonderful day of adventure I had planned, and not even you can deny our need for that".

 _'Haha. Nailed it!'_ Ruby thought. She had worried that with all their time being apart that her ability to be the team leader for RWBY had deteriorated, but it seems that Ruby had it under control.

"But couldn't we do all this at Haven academy?" Blake asked, "They're bound to have a training room like they did at Beacon, right? Why go all the way out into the forest?"

 _'…Oh No!' R_ uby did not have it under control, she didn't even think about using the school, she had to come up with something fast in order to preserve her decision-making skills.

"Well it would be out in a realistic environment! It's like Professor Goodwitch always said ʻ _You can't fight all your battles in the classroom'_. Ruby finshed adjusting a pair of invisible glasses on her face.

"I guess that makes sense." Her Faunus friend relented.

 _'Wow, I am on fire right now'_ Ruby thought, riding a self-confidence high she created after successfully pulling that saying out of her butt. She wasn't even sure if Professor Goodwitch had ever said something like that, but it SOUNDED like her….

"But wouldn't the realism make it more of a training exercise than a fun get together?" Yang inquired.

"But..."

"Also what about all the Grimm we could attract?" Blake added

"Well…..."

"And what about..." Weiss started to ask

"Guys!" Ruby gleefully interrupted before they had the chance to ask any more questions

"We just came out from an impossible battle and we came out on top! We got the Relic, Jaune unlocked his semblance, Weiss isn't dead, and the best part" She then grabs her teammates and holds them close.

"Team RWBY IS BACK TOGETHER!" she screamed. Using all her strength, she gives the biggest hug she can for all of her team. This is the first time since the Vytal festival where they have all been together in relatively good spirits. The very thought of those memories made Ruby's smile even wider. "Nice save" she heard Nora whisper very loudly as they continued walking to their site. It was a bit far from the city itself, at a foot of one of the mountains that surrounded Mistral. There was a clearing big enough for them to use for the "battle" without bothering anyone.

"Okay everyone here is the name of the game. It is a 4v4 challenge and the goal is to stay within the boundaries of this clearing!" She gestured to the tree line that surrounded them, the clearing was at the border of the mountain range, which was visible through the tree line.

The two teams agreed to meet at the opposite end of the clearing to start. Then Nora asked something that sent chills down Ruby's spine…..

"Why don't we make it interesting?" she asked

Ruby felt absolute dread. After spending months with Nora, she was well accustomed to her antics. One bet she lost, Nora forced her to drink Ren's smoothies every day for 2 weeks. Jaune and Ren have gone through similar treatment at Beacon, and that attitude continued throughout their travels. Then of course then there was...

"Nora?" Jaune asked, "This is not going to be another 'Kaneshon incident', is it?"

"NO!" the rest of the RNJR collective screamed out at once much to the surprise of everyone else.

Ruby shot Jaune a death look (or the closest she could make anyway). They had all agreed to never speak of the incident ever again. Ruby herself was particularly bitter about it as the end result banned them from riding the trains throughout Anima. She has done her best to block the entire ordeal from her mind.

"You know, Jaune…what happened in Kaneshon stays in Kaneshon," Ruby told her friend flatly.

"I wanted to be prepared," Jaune said with fear creeping into his voice. "I still have nightmares about those straws," he finished, looking at his hands. Ruby noticed that they had started to shake. She shook a bit herself, understanding it all too well.

"Umm….what happened at Kaneshon?" Yang asked

"Nothing!" Team RNJR yelled out all at once.

"Okaaaaaaay then…" Yang said, curiosity not fully sated.

Before she could try to inquire further, Blake stepped in.

"So…..what are the conditions for this bet, Nora?" Blake turned to ask their normal energetic friend who had, for some reason, seemed a bit pale now.

"Errr…right…conditions…" Nora's color came back in full swing right after Blake asked. "So how about 800 lien for the winning team and the losing team would have to do whatever the winning team says for a week!" Nora punctuated her statement but putting her hands on her hips and laughing into the sky.

Ruby made an audible gulp and was almost positive Blake made one too. Ruby did not like the idea of being in service to Nora even if it was for a week. She loved the girl, and for the past 8 months she has become one of her closest friends, but she knew all too well what that girl was capable of. While Ren probably wouldn't do anything too reckless and Jaune is too concerned about everyone to put anybody in real danger, he will be willing to get on board with Nora if push comes to shove. And while he wouldn't do anything too rash, Jaune has a creative mind and he and Nora work well together whether it be on the battlefield or with mischief in hand.

Ruby thought back to beacon. While he was knocked out in the beginning, he was the one giving out orders during the "Great Beacon Food War" at the start of the second semester (he even gave Nora that darned pie). _'I mean, we DID win that battle….'_ Ruby thought to herself.

But then there was the status of her team. Sure they were able to go head to head with the big baddies but was more their individual skills than their normal teamwork. Because no matter how you slice it has been almost a year since team RWBY have been back together. They all had gone on their own paths and were different because of it. Weiss for instance, since mastering her summoning has been implementing it in her battles more often than her glyphs which has made her more likely to go one on one in a fight. The downside is that right now she is trying to rely too much on her summons without using her older combat style and has had no real combat experience since the battle of Beacon. ' _and Cinder almost killed her'_ Ruby remembered.

Then there was Blake, and from what little Ruby has seen from her friend she could tell that she has changed a lot too in her time away. As for her style of fighting, she wasn't sure… She didn't see her fight during the battle because she was dealing with Mercury and Emerald inside, and Blake only came in after the fighting had ended with the White Fang outside. She could only hope her fighting style was still the same.

The only one Ruby was confident is with was Yang. Ruby was aware of how much her sister has changed, but she was not worried about it. She was so much more in control of her power, she used her semblance less, but that was because she didn't seem to need to. Ruby absently thought of how dad must have trained her and her new arm after the fall…

Ruby looked at her sister and Yang nodded back to her in return. There was nothing to be said. The two of them could finish each other sentences if they wanted to. They knew each other really well. _'We are all here for fun there is no need for any extra...shenanigans'_ Ruby concluded. She was glad that Yang understood that.

"Make it 1000 and a month and you got yourself a deal!" Yang said with a big smirk on her face.

"Deal"

You could almost hear Ruby's mental glass shatter after Yang upped the ante. Her thoughts were a fuming jumbled mess as the team walked back to their edge of the clearing. What was going on, why had Yang just went on ahead and agreed to the terms as well as made the whole thing much worse. As soon as the team reached their end of the clearing Ruby spun on her heel, looking pointedly at her sister.

"What was that!" She exclaimed, "Why did you up the ante and why did you even _agree_ to it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Yang asked, confidence still brimming under her leader's questions.

Ruby just stared at her older sister, who gave her a look as if she had already known the answer.

"…Well, I thought we could just maximize our reward for our victory" she answered like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Look," Yang continued after noticing Ruby's concerned look, "Jaune may have gotten stronger but he is still Jaune, semblance or not. Oscar is just Oscar at the moment so that won't be too much of an issue. So that just leaves Nora and Ren. I can handle Ren pretty easily and Nora is all strength but she not even she can take on all 4 of us at once. You see? We got this in the bag!" Yang finished, giving Ruby a thumbs up.

 _'That might have been true a year ago'_ Ruby thought, seeing Yang's overconfidence hasn't quite diminished… _'She's underestimating everyone's improvement'_.

Jaune was always a good strategist and has no doubt picked up on everyone's weakness and strengths. Oscar improves every time he switches with Ozpin, who has literally thousands of years of experience. She saw how he fought Hazel, and he took a fully charged hammer strike from Nora without even slowing down! Even Ren and Nora have improved their hand-to-hand combat and aura training with Ozpin for the past month. Then there is the most important part.

 _'JNR have been together for the past 8 months, unlike us'_

"They will be making us pancakes in no time!" Yang continued smiling, unaware of what they were REALLY getting into.

That promise seemed more and more unlikely by the second (which sucks, because pancakes awesome, especially on long-winded expeditions). She shook her head of the thoughts of pancakes. Now that her fun little get together has turned into a fight to the emotionally charged death, Ruby decided to take what she has and just roll with it. Her situation might not be ideal, but she can work with it.

Team RWBY all huddled up, preparing for battle. "Alright team, here's the plan" Ruby started off but was interrupted by the sound of Nora's grenade launcher exploding in the sky, announcing the start of the round. _'Oh no!'_ Ruby quickly announced a makeshift strategy.

"Weiss you get Ren. Yang, you take Nora, Blake you get Oscar! I will take Jaune" She said with little confidence as they began charging into the center of the clearing.

As the teams rushed towards each other, it was Yang and Nora clashing first. The two met each other with a clash of fire and lighting as Yang blocked Nora's hammer strike shattering the ground beneath them and sending out a small shockwave. Nora used the momentum of the blocked swing to flip herself over Yang and kicked her in her back, sending her stumbling forward. Nora pressed her advantage by throwing in a few quick successive strikes, but Yang got back on the offensive after countering one of her hammer swings and judo flipped her to the ground. Nora skidded across the ground like a pebble across a lake. After skidding to a stop, she quickly got back up and the two went back at it again.

Her Partner was more subtle in her approach, falling back into the edge of the clearing. The cat faunus wanted to keep the element of surprise over the farm hand until she had the opportunity to strike. Oscar's eyes followed Blake toward the tree line, where she vanished. He stayed there, noting the surrounding battles around him without a care in the world. It came as no shock to Ruby that he was anticipating Blake's plan. As she waited for Oscar to _seemingly_ show more attention to the ongoing battle, she struck. Oscar dodged the oncoming blow with practiced ease, surprising the faunus as she was forced to block a counter-strike from Ozpin's cane. Every following strike she missed seemed to be returned to her by Oscar at double the force, sending Blake on the backfoot.

Weiss just summoned her white knight right out of the gate and had it charge at the silent huntsmen. Not a single swing from the lumbering giant had managed to land, Ren being too quick. After the fifth swing, Ren took the opportunity to grab hold of the knight's transparent armor. As started to climb up the side of her massive summon, he slashed and stabbed at every crack he could find in the knight's armor. Seeing no effect, he landed on the knight's shoulder and unloaded an entire mag into the giant's visor. The giant fell down from the assault, dissolving back into white ashes as Weiss glared at a visually unexhausted Ren. After landing safely, he charged right back at Weiss who quickly summoned the queen lancer to defend herself.

 _'She isn't a fast learner, is she?'_ Ruby thought to herself, focusing back to her encounter with Jaune. Instead of going with a headstrong approach like Weiss or Yang, Ruby decided to hang back and user her sniper rifle for damage instead. She jumped back and pulled out Crescent Rose, loaded some ice dust and went on the look for her Blonde BFF. Her hope was to immobilize him and follow up with a round of high energy dust, knocking him out of the ring, then she would join up with another member of her team and one by one knock out another member of team JNR.

A problem arose with the plan as soon as she started shooting though, _'Jaune is blocking all of my attacks...'_ As Ruby shot, he would either block the rounds with his shield or roll out of the way. With each dodge and block, Jaune made it closer and closer to Ruby. As he kept moving forward, she was forced to move back to keep her range advantage. As she started to fire her sniper faster to make more ground, she hadn't realized she was backtracking straight to her cat-eared friend, until it was too late.

Ruby backed into Blake, knocking her off balance and causing her to face plant the ground. "Oooh my gosh, Blake! Are you alright?" Ruby quickly asked her friend.

"Yeah," she said standing back up. "I didn't expect this boy to be so well trained." Ruby looked over to see Oscar standing in Blake's line of sight, resting on his cane and his eyes studying Blake and Ruby like a hawk.

"Well he _is_ the reincarnation of Professor Ozpin, so he was bound to pick things up fast," she noted.

"Yeah," Blake responded, turning back to face the boy. You could almost hear Blake's thought process halt as her ears and shot up and she turned back around to Ruby, unintentionally lowering her weapon. "Wait, WHAT!?" Blake yelled, her voice mixed with confusion and shock. It was at this point Ruby realized that Blake was still in the dark about the whole Salem/magic thing. She _did_ see the whole Salem projection, but they never really explained the whole thing to her, did they?

"Well…ummm…you see" Ruby started to say, but it was too late. Oscar took advantage of Blake's confusion and launched himself toward the Faunus. She tried to raise her weapon to defend herself, but Oscar was too fast and knocked her weapon out of her hand. He pummeled the faunus girl with a series of quick jabs with his cane before she could even muster any kind of response. Before Ruby could intervene, the farm boy had managed to use his cane as a baseball bat to knock the faunus out of bounds and out of the game.

 _ʻ…Oops'_ Ruby lamented as she saw Blake go flying into some nearby shrubbery. Now that Blake was out of the game, that just left Yang, Weiss, and herself against team JNR + O. She had to think fast or else they would all have to bow to their whim. She turned her attention to Jaune, who had finally caught up with her.

"Well looks like its time for Team JORN to shine," he said, still out of breath from catching up.

"That isn't much better" she replied "But it definitely sounds cooler than ORNJ"

"Thank you." he replied as he still had his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

Ruby extended Crescent Rose back to its Scythe Mode ready to attack, causing Jaune to fully stand back up and grab Crocea Mors from his back. He twisted his sword handle, extending the sheath outward into its bladed form. He twirled his sword around in his hand and stood ready to take on Ruby. _'That stance…'_ she was familiar with that stance. He always practices it while watching some of Pyrrha's old training videos.

The two leaders clashed with Ruby bringing Crescent Rose down and Jaune bringing Crocea Mors shield sword up to block. The two traded blows for a while, Ruby not able to land more than a glancing blow, slowly chipping at his massive aura. _'He sure has improved since he stumbled his way into Beacon'_ She thought with a fractured smile. Their two weapons clashed again, but when he parried she was able to hook her scythe over the sword and pull up her scope. Jaune realizing Ruby's plan extended the shield on his sword, but it just wasn't fast enough. Ruby shot a high impact round of dust into him launching him back at a supersonic speed barely holding onto his sword and shield.

"No hard feelings Jaune" she yelled. At this rate, he would be out of bounds in no time.

"Keep them" he yelled back, a small smirk visible (to Ruby, anyway) on his face.

 _'What does he mean by that?'_ Ruby wondered. She quickly followed his trajectory and realized… _'Oh no!'_

She had sent Jaune right in the path of Weiss. The heiress was still busy focusing her energy on controlling her summons to realize Jaune was quite literally on a crash course for her. _'No no no no no…!'_ Ruby activated her semblance to try and knock Jaune away before he ran into Weiss, but by the time she did, it was already too late.

Jaune drew his sword in front of him midair and activated his semblance. This time he was amplifying his own aura to increase his durability and power. He had managed to yell out "Hey, Snow Angel!" before he transferred his momentum from his flight to his sword. To Weiss' credit, she noticed him fast enough to try and block his sword with Myrtenaster, but Jaune's momentum from Ruby's shot was far too much for her to block effectively. Jaune let out a grunt as he managed to smack Weiss clear out of the ring, leaving only Yang and Ruby left in the fight.

Ruby arrived just in time to see Weiss land in the bushes, then turned to look at Jaune. He just smiled wider and said "You can give her the hard feelings if you want"

"This 'fun day' isn't going at all as I planned." she frowned exhaustingly.

"I wouldn't say that Ruby." Jaune said, still smiling "I'm having a blast."

Ruby glared at Jaune. "You knew I was going to knock you back to Weiss, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "I had to get to her out somehow. What I didn't expect was the shot to hurt so much." He winced while rubbing his chest where her shot impacted.

"But how?"

He shrugged again. "Well I would tell you, but it looks like you have a sister to save." He pointed his sword behind him causing Ruby to turn around.

Yang was being double teamed by Nora and Oscar.

She was doing her best to fight them both off, but they were giving her a hard time avoiding all of her strikes and landing some solid blows. _'When did Oscar get there?'_ Ruby thought. He was right behind her when Jaune showed up. Why did he go over to Yang? Why not help Jaune?

Then it hit her. ' _He twirled his sword, even with how heavy it is with the sheath on it…it must have been a signal for Oscar to go and help Nora!'_ She realized. She had been played! As Ruby was lamenting her new mistake, Yang had managed to catch one of Nora's hammer swings.

"Is that all you…" Ruby snapped out of her revelation upon hearing her sister, she looked over and saw electricity releasing from Nora's hands, up into the handle of her hammer. It shocked Yang as she fell to the ground. As she grunted and got back up, Yang tried to raise her hand again but noticed it was unresponsive. _'Nora short-circuited her hand? But how…?'_ Nora, whose back was to Ruby, raised her hammer ready to deliver the final blow.

"Ready for the home run?" Nora asked Yang with a smirk on her face.

Ruby once again activated her semblance. Her vision quite literally turned red as she went full power to smash both Nora and Oscar out of the ring, leaving Jaune and Ren behind in a plume of red rose petals. She had her Crescent Rose in 'war scythe mode' and ready to swing. But before she realized it, before she could correct herself and before Yang could get up, Nora swung her hammer.

Ruby then noticed that it didn't connect. Instead, Nora continued spinning until she was no longer facing Yang. _'She's gonna hit ME'_ Ruby realized too late.

With the sound of thunder, Nora launched a shot of electricity towards Ruby, causing her to overcompensate to avoid it. She redirected away from Yang, leaving behind a sea of red pedals leading directly into one of the mountains. 'This is gonna hurt..'

* * *

 **Lelouch**

"Urghh" was the only sound that he was able to make. All of his senses returned to him in a flash of light.

' _What is happening? Am I alive?'_ he thought, slightly panicked. He took a shallow breath and immediately released it along with some blood. The pain was proof he was indeed alive or at least for now anyway. He was in pain, but it didn't feel like he was dying anymore. Something had happened, Lelouch just didn't know what. Where was he? He was no longer on the throne float next to his sister. It felt like a cave of sort, but he couldn't get a good look around. Most of his senses did return, but they were all just a blur and it was hard for him to process. He tried to get look up but he felt like he was weighed down by sandbags and his body just wouldn't obey his mind.

'Where is Nunnally? Where am I? How am I still alive?'

Then he started to hear some voices….

"RUBY!" one of the voices yelled. It was a female voice showing signs of concern "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," said another one. It seemed like another female, though this one was a higher pitch. It almost reminded him of his sister, though this girl seemed way more energetic. "I guess I am out 1000 lien and my dignity" The voice continued.

"Yeah well, that what happens when you take Nora head on." A third voice had said. This girls voice was calmer than the other two. It almost sounded tired, like the girl had been up for several hours. It almost reminded him of Kallen at school. Trying to mask herself by acting sick and feeble.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't raised the stakes!" The high-pitched voice yelled out. "I needed that Lien! How am I supposed to buy my comics now!?" She groaned and then sighed. "Now we have to work for Team JNR….errr…JORN? ORNJ?...for the next _month_!" the high pitch girl exasperated.

"It may have worked if someone wasn't knocked out of bounds in the first 5 seconds." Intoned a fourth female voice, this one sounding icy and composed.

"Hey! How about that fact that our old headmaster somehow became a child? I swear ever since I came back to stop the White Fang, all I have been getting from you guys have just been very vague answers and comments" The tired sounding voice again.

"Guys! Guys! I know it been a while since we have been fighting together, but we just need time and practice. Soon we will be right back on top!" The first voice exclaimed with confidence.

Lelouch felt the weight starting to release his off of his back. The air flowed through his lungs again and he left out another big heavy cough, still wondering how he could survive a sword through his heart.

Before he could do anything the thought had already escaped his lungs...

"How...?" he croaked

"Good question, Weiss." That hyper voice got out with a small grunt. "We have only been back together for a couple of days, ORNJ over there have been working together for months"

The icy voice ('Weiss' I suppose) spoke up, sounding confused. "I didn't say anything"

"What?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Well, who did?"

"Rude..." Lelouch mumbled out of his mouth as the people above him were completely oblivious to his suffering. If it weren't for his constant pain and what could very well be a broken heart, this rudeness would be killing him. He coughed again further aggravating his chest pain as more blood spilled out of his mouth. He let out another moan because of the pain. Suddenly all the voices quieted down.

The 5 people started looking around the cave and didn't notice anything out of place until one looked under Ruby's feet, that is. "Hey Ruby, what are you standing on?"

"Huh?"

The pressure on Lelouch's back was gone, as it felt like someone just walked off it. Lelouch then realized that the high pitched girl had been standing on him the entire time and she and her friends just didn't notice. The girl quickly jumped off his back and held her hands on the sides of her head.

"AHHH! OH, MY GODS!" That one called out shrieking.

"Oh my gods, I am so sorry are you alright?"

"I will go get Jaune!" The one called Weiss said before running off.

"Yang, go call for uncle Qrow!" the high pitched girl said as she helped Lelouch to his feet (Though he felt that she was hesitant in doing so). His sight was still blurry, but he did finally get a look at the girl. She had silver eyes and black hair that seemed to end in a red tint. Her face was dripping with concern as if she had found a small bird dead on the side of the road. For a split-second, Lelouch actually thought she was his sister.

"Don't worry! You're gonna be fine!" The girl said, worry clear in her voice

"Nunnally? ...no you're not…," he said, mind still a little hazy.

"No, my name is Ruby. What's yours?" she asked him.

Lelouch was worried where in the world he was. It was apparent that the girls here didn't recognize him. He decided to play on that before he passed out from the pain.

"No ... I have no idea" he lied. Back to his bad habits.

"Oh great…." The other, still un-named girl sighed

"Umm ok….Next question," Ruby paused for a second "Why are you naked?" her face started to blush as she asked.

 _'What?'_ was the last thought he had before he passed out.

* * *

 **Hazel**

Hazel didn't mind being in debt to people. These two misfits of Cinder could still be useful, so when the girl freaked out and stopped all of those children, he scooped them up and ran. No maiden, no relic, and their own maiden was MIA. _'killed, if that blond one got away with the relic'_ Hazel grimaced. Adam ran off after some of his White Fang followers were captured by what seemed the remnants of the _former_ White Fang. His so-called 'play for power' only left them with more obstacles in his master's path.

As they all stopped to catch their breath, they had to plan their next move.

"What the hell happened back there?" Mercury violently asked the hulking man.

"I could ask you the same," Hazel replied more evenly, setting the still unconscious Emerald on the forest floor.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that whole rage thing you were doing?"

Hazel just grumbled at him. "I don't expect you to understand. It was my mistake to make."

"And now that bimbo killed my boss, cause you couldn't handle it with a level head." Mercury snarked back at him.

Hazel punched a tree next to him in anger, causing it to break and fall with his pure strength.

"The only thing to do now is to report our failure to Salem," Hazel said after calming back down.

"'Our failure'? I was handling them ju…."

"By toying with them, instead of finishing the job." Hazel interrupted him. "Now we have nothing to show for our incompetence other than a possible candidate for the fallen Cinder's powers."

Mercury sighed. "And are you even sure the bigger boss won't just kill us instead?"

"No"

"Great…." Mercury sighed again. "Well, I guess we don't have much more of a choice anyway. Lead the way, oh fearless leader."

As they got back up to leave, Hazel started thinking how to encounter a Seer Grimm. After their defeat in Haven, the Seer Grimm would be long gone by now. _'Perhaps it has run towards other Grimm in the deep forest'_ Hazel reasoned.

After exploring the forest in darker recesses, Hazel found a pack of ancient Geist. Taking the forms of the nearby trees, they became enraged at their presence. _'Not good'_ Hazel realized they were not going to get through this easily, if at all.

Hazel, still weakened by the fight, was forced to fight back one-handed as he held onto Emerald. Mercury had been faring better, but an ancient Grimm was another level entirely. Hazel took a tree trunk to the chest, sending him and Emerald sprawling backward into the dirt. As he looked back, he saw Mercury getting blindsided by a Geist as he was flattened to the ground, aura flicking out from the force of impact.

They would have been dead if not for a passerby who had stepped in and took the pack without their help, and with seemingly little effort. He cut the one above Mercury clear in half, followed up by dodging a strike from another and cutting the attacking appendage off. The man almost seemed to dance around the Geists, never even scratched by them as he cut them all down with tactically precise movements.

Needless to say, he had peaked Hazel's interest.

After the dust cleared, Hazel could only mutter one question "Who are you?"

Hearing his tale, he asked if the man would accompany him. After some persuasion, he agreed.

After getting through the forest, they had found the seer grim in the far cliff sides of the kingdom boundaries. It was staring off in the distance almost as if it was pondering something. Hazel stepped in front of the Seer to garner its attention.

"Sire" He Kneeled before the Grimm. Without warning, the monster's tentacles wrapped around his throat, threatening to suffocate him.

"I am well aware of your failure." The grim voice crackled "I am not at all convinced of your abilities or usefulness if you are bested by a band of children"

The tentacles loosened from his neck seconds before his vision he would have gone black. He looked up at the face of his Master, whose face shone through the Grimm as a dark light.

"Tell me why I should spare your lives?" she threatened.

Hazel grunted as he stood up facing his master.

"It is true that the last battle did you not fall in your favor. We lost the Relic and quite possibly the Fall Maiden." He began.

"You are not doing a good job so far, Hazel" Salem sounded disappointed as the tentacles around his neck started getting tighter.

"Cinder's apprentice is a good candidate to receive the power, if she has perished, so she would still have value. We will still be able to open the Beacon Vault" he continued. The tentacles laid off a bit, however, he was still on his guard.

"The Relic is removed, but knowing Ozpin and his arrogance, he would not have it returned. He would likely keep it with him as he leaves for the next relic, thinking it would be safer this way"

"Ozpin? He has already returned?" Salem asked, interest now peaked.

"Yes, Sire. His reincarnation process is complete," Hazel said, anger rising in his tone. "He has taken the life of a Child, he now follows his will." He thought of his sister again. How she _DIED_ following his whim. Hazel clenched his fist and tried to steady his breathing. This didn't go unnoticed by Mercury or their new guest.

"Hmmm" Salem hummed to herself "I knew he would return but in a body of a child. That is an interesting move…." Salem put her finger under her chin in contemplation.

'Move?' Mercury thought. He would think that the information of your greatest enemy's return would drum up a different response. _'I mean if I found out my old man was somehow still alive...'_ He hadn't expected Salem to react so calmly to this. _'And the way she reacted it was almost like it was a game to her'_. He still wasn't sure what to think of this 'Salem' person, even after all the time they spend in her castle, but she if she didn't creep him out before, she really does now.

"One last thing" Hazel added. "On the way here we came across a man who you might find useful"

"Oh? How so?" Salem was looking back at Hazel to answer.

"On our way here we were plagued by a swarm of Grimm, which he single-handedly killed with just a sword. He claims to have the ability to predict his opponents move"

He could hear his master scoff. "He sounds no different than an average Huntsman. I have no use for something as commonplace as that"

Hazel understood his master's suspicion of his tale. There are many Huntsmen in this world, even those at the lowest of strength can take on more than one Grimm. "You misunderstand, he is no Huntsman because he has no active aura or semblance, and all the Grimms were Omega levels"

This got Salem's full attention. "Is that so?"

"Yes. And for his ability," Hazel added, "I believe them to be of a more mystical nature."

She started to muse, her attention was now upon the man over by Mercury. He was a abnormally tall man, imposing at a massive 7 feet, even taller than Hazel at 6'10". Even with the rags he stands in now, he still looks at intimidating as any other grimm a lone soul may find across their path. Yes, he will do nicely. "Call him over, Hazel."

"Of course, Sire"

The man stepped forward and away from the boy and the unconscious girl. The man had faded purple shoulder-length hair framing his face and, curiously held one eye closed, a large scar running down his face. He could be no more than 40, with the cracks of old age beginning to show through his face. But despite not being a Huntsman she could sense a history of fights radiating off him like the sun. The posture and the way he walks he could almost be mistaken for a soldier.

He looked at the Grimm with interest and curiosity. In respect of his station, he bowed his head to Salem.

"Your subordinate says that you can help me with my request." He stated, staring at the now amused Salem. "Perhaps…" She responded vaguely.

"Then I would like to offer my service to you, In return for your help" he offered.

"And if your request is something that is beyond my power?" she asked, wondering what his answer would be.

"My former master died trying to unite the world together with his might. You strike me as someone who wishes to bring order and has a high sense of purpose and honor like he did. It would not bother to be under your hand."

"What an interesting man you have brought me, Hazel," she said. Hazel nodded. He too could see his unbidden potential, if he had the prowess to defeat that many high-level Grimm without aura….

"What is your name?" Salem asked the warrior.

"My Name is Bismarck Waldstein, Knight of One of the Holy Britannian Empire" he stated with pride and anger opening his left eye. Salem could clearly see the power emanating from within it, causing her smile to widen.

"And I wish for you to return me to my world."

* * *

 **This is my next story, sorry for those who actually read my stories. I have been preoccupied and just basically bad at keeping up with all my old fanfics story. So naturally, I started another long-winded story making it the single longest chapter of anything I had written before.**

 **but seriously I am going to make a better effort in updating my stories. I am on Spring break right now and I plan to Update my other two ongoing stories**

 **Thanks RandomName3064 for editing this chapter**


	2. False Purpose

Code: RWBY

Turn 2

* * *

 **"False purpose"**

But the mass we call "world" keeps turning, ignoring our individual desires

* * *

 **Yang**

In a different time, if someone were to tell Yang she would find a hot guy naked in the woods, she would say it was a dream come true.

However now that it was actually happening, she had several questions. Who is this guy? How did he get here? What is up with his chin? And why of course is he walking around in a cave naked? These questions kept running through her head as she and the others rushed the guy to a nearby hospital just in the city limits. Jaune tried to heal the poor guy, but they quickly discovered that his Aura wasn't activated, so Weiss just summoned her queen lancer and flew him in as fast as she could, along with Ruby who wanted to make sure that he would be safe and not fall off. Oscar was quick to grab his scroll and call ahead. No need to scare the hospital staff with a Grimm flying in at full speed.

Yang called Qrow to fill him in on the whole thing. He grumbled a curse and agreed to 0meet her at the hospital when he was done.

As they _finally_ got to the hospital, they ran into the lobby and almost physically ran into Weiss.

"How's he doing?" Jaune asked

"He seems to be okay," Weiss told him "The ER is still looking after him as we speak."

"Has he said anything?" Oscar asked

Weiss shook her head. "Apart from a couple of incoherent phrases and words, our nameless, naked friend is still just naked and nameless"

"Nameless?" Yang inquired

"Yeah!" Ruby spoke up "Before he passed out, he told me that he couldn't remember his name or anything at all!"

Everyone just stared at her in utmost disbelief. "Ruby, that would be considered as 'him saying something'" Jaune informed her. She then started to fluster realizing her mistake. She clapped her hands on her face as it turned red. She then started to incoherently sputter out words.

"Well...you see...it was before...after we...naked" she stammered out.

"Ruby, its fine" Oscar put his hands on her shoulder to calm her down.

' _No name?'_ Yang thought as more questions began to rise up. Everything about this guy was setting alarm bells off in her head. He just happens to show up after the battle with Salem forces. Did she send him? Is he a spy? Is this all an act that was set up by her? Perhaps he was a just a bystander who just so happened to be at the bad end of Rubyʻs semblance. Then why was he in a cave? Her mind kept spitting out questions. Ever since her little chat with Raven, Yang felt forced to look at things harshly and question everything. Was this the only thing her mother managed to do to her?

After what felt like forever, a doctor walked out from the ER. She looked around and spotted Weiss and Ruby with their group and started walking toward them. Yang looked over and saw the doctor walking up. _'Finally some answers'_

Ruby quickly jumped on her. "Is he okay!?"

"We are running tests on him as we speak," the doctor told the group. "Are any of you related to him? Know him from anywhere in anyway?" The group collectively shook their heads 'no' causing the doctor to sigh. "Well we are treating him for several broken ribs and as well as a concussion. From what we can tell is that he indeed is having some form of Amnesia. So far he has been unable to tell us anything, not even his name"

"Wait, so he's awake now?" Yang asked.

"Yes. He came to about 10 minutes ago."

"That's good" Yang overheard Ruby sigh in partial relief.

"So Miss doctor….Umm," Nora tried to act normal. It clearly wasn't working. "Could it have been done by someone...Oh...I donʻt know, who used a hammer to hit a person into another person..."

"Oh no..." Ruby squeaked, scared by the idea that she had hurt this guy so badly.

"Perhaps…" she added noting all the blank faces she got from the group, minus Ruby, whose face went white as a sheet."His MRI showed some lacerations on his brain" The doctor then paused. "Did you happen to find his scroll?" she asked, staring back at the group. To Yang, it seemed like her eyes dilated a little bit. "Or anything that seemed to relate to him?"

"We found him as is." Blake told her "Naked and all" she shuddered a little bit.

"Is that so…" she mumbled giving Blake a cold stare, Ruby got the feeling that she did not like Blake. She then took some notes and scribbled them on a paper. Mumbling to herself, she got out "Thank you for your time" before she started to walk off. Yang was about to leave when Ruby spoke up.

"Can we go see him?" Ruby asked, knocking some of her group for a loop

"Excuse me?" the doctor quickly turned on her heel towards the group, not expecting the request. Yang was wondering what her sister was up to. _'I'm sure he doesn't want to meet the people who might have given him brain damage, Rubes...'_

"Can he have visitors?" she asked again, throwing on her pleading Zwei-like eyes for good measure.

"I thought you said you didn't know him?" the doctor inquired, eyebrow.

"Well he doesn't seem to have anyone else" Her sister responded. A small smile swept over Yang's face. _'That's Ruby for ya. Always willing to give a helping hand'_

The doctor stood there, thinking for a few seconds.

"…Uhhh sure" the doctor nervously answered. "Though I would have to say no more than 4 people," she told the 9 students "We would not want to overwhelm the young man"

Ruby turned to her friends "Who is up for this?" Yang immediately volunteered to be with Ruby, as did Oscar and to her surprise, Blake also decided to join them. Nora quickly ran off saying something about 'checking the hospital's cafeteria for pancakes', Ren ran after her to keep an eye on said pancakes.

"I think I'm gonna head out to that RHOP for breakfast, instead…" Jaune mentioned while thinking about hospital food. _'No thanks'_

"Mind if I come with?" Weiss asked her blonde friend.

"Ummm...Sure" Jaune told her. He then looked over at Yang.

"Hey Yang, can I borrow Bumblebee, please? The place is on the other side of town."

"Arc, the only time you get to ride my Bumblebee is if you use a sidecar." Yang told him only paying him half attention, having other things to worry about at the moment.

"I am going to guess that's a 'no' for using your motorcycle?"

"You guessed correctly" she smiled back at him.

Yang turned and followed Blake, Ozcar, Ruby, and the doctor down the hall into the guy's room. She wanted to know more about this strange boy who fell into their lives. Hopefully, they can sort this out before they can plan their trip to Atlas.

* * *

 **Winter**

The cold had never bothered Winter.

Ever since she was a child, the numbness had no effect on her. She felt the chills from the wind as a normal child, but it did not move her one bit.

She never felt the urge to go inside, to seek warmth. These days, however, the feeling was different. The chill, the wind in the air, its claws sunk deeper into her skin than it had in the past. The air has intensified, the days are getting colder, Winter could feel it.

She looked upon the border from one of their many outposts that her General had constructed, what was designed to make them safe from all attacks. The precaution was sudden and abrupt, but not unwise. The world is going through an upheaval, one that has not been seen in over 80 years. This kind of thinking is what needed if Atlas was to survive this turning of the wind.

She was lost in thought when suddenly she felt a force smack into her back. She turned to find that it was Enji, her aide.

"Do you need a new set of eyes, Enji?" Winter asked as she glared down at her.

"Uhh sorry Maʻam" she apologized "I was on my way to get you and then the General released a new memo this afternoon, and then there was a civic update from Mantle, and an update on the situation at Station A-113, and all the paperwork and some training..." she trailed off trying to grab all the paperwork before the wind blew it all away. Winter did not know how this girl can be so clumsy at times. It was one of her faults, but her usefulness and abilities far outweigh that minor detail.

"Never mind that now Enji" she scolded. "Walk with me a bit, put the papers over there" she gestured to the guard standing by.

Enji proceeded to drop the paperwork into the man's arms (leaving him rather confused) and the two of them started walking down the catwalk. The view was nice, the light from the setting sun against the Solitas ice was calming and beautiful. Winter would take a picture of the landscape if she actually cared about the mountain's beauty or photography for that matter. To her, the land was her duty to protect and what she must serve. That must, and always will, take priority in her life.

"Has there been any update on the new line of Paladins?" she inquired to her assistant.

"'Project Depth' is still going along quite nicely, new discoveries might possibly make the next line more mobile than the last rotation, Maʻam" she curtly responded.

"Good. What of the upgrades to the CCTS?"

"Its...put on hold. The General has diverted the funds from that project into military and research Maʻam"

"Shame, but I guess it's for the best. The General has his reasons" she told the young girl.

"And what about the dust transports?" Winter asked. "Has the Quota been reached already?" After hearing no immediate response, she turned to look at her aide. "Enji?"

She was staring out into the mountains, her mind easily off somewhere else. This kind of thing happens too much for the girl, not surprising given her state of mind. But she still needed to focus and overcome her situation. ʻ _A problem like hers can only be overcome by discipline'_ Winter put on a stern look as she smacked the young girl in the head, bringing her out of her daydream.

"OW!"

"Quick staring off, you boob! You have a duty to do, a duty that you have sworn to uphold. Now is not the time to be dreaming of some imaginary boy!"

Enji face turned crimson. "I donʻt dream of boys, Maʻam!" she expressed

"Girls then, whatever"

"No! it's just…" she trailed off and looks toward the setting sun, her eyes looked like they were calling out to something beyond the horizon. Winter had seen it in her eyes every day since she joined as her aide. The sadness of looking for something that was just out of reach.

"Feels like something is out there, that's all" she said calmly. Her Orange hair blowing in the wind, not daunting her gaze.

"I understand," Winter told the young girl under her care, putting her hand on her shoulder. "I know this past couple of months have been hard on you, but you have shown great resilience in these trying times. And you have been a helpful assistant"

Enji looked back at Winter "Maʻam, I cannot thank you en…."

She was interrupted by a large explosion beneath them. The catwalk that they stood on started to shake, and smoke had started to rise over the side of the border wall. Enji nearly fell off, but she quickly adjusted herself. Winter stood still unmoved by the whole ordeal

"What was that!?" she yelled, clutching to the railings. "That would be the situation in A-113" Winter told her like it was a minor nuisance. She looked over to see shadows moving through the blaze. "It seems like a couple of Grimm have breached the outward perimeter and have made their way toward the interior defenses" she casually stated. Enji looked down, to confirm her commanding officers report. "Nothing too dangerous. Just a pack of Beowulfs and their Alpha. Hardly worth a 'level 3' threat"

"Okay" Enji took in a deep breath. "What should we do?"

"You are going to take them on. Alone" she ordered her.

"WHAT!?"

 _'This is only way through the perimeter for miles'_ Winter was mapping out the defense grid in her head. _'This will be good way to test her resolve, and a chance for her to explore her own potential'_

"You will be fine" Winter put a hand on Enji's shoulder to reassure her "Just remember your training, or you will die" Winter warned while drawing out her sword with her free hand and pointing it at her throat. Her Green eyes stared back at Winter. They were full of fear, then in a split second her eyes refocused and her expression became one of determination. She let go of the railing that was supporting her.

"I understand"

She then proceeded to backflip over the side of the wall, down toward the monsters below. Watching her mid-fall, Winter can't help but reminisce why she chose Enji as her aide. Normally anyone who was as emotional flawed as she was would stick to the normal military training as most have done before her, but Enji was different. Sure she was clumsy and easily distracted, but she also has something unquantifiable. Something that is sorely needed in the upcoming days. Her undeniable fighting spirit.

Winter watched to see Enji stick her landing, right next to the Alpha, who then tried to claw and bite her, but she gracefully jumped about dodging each blow making the monster kill some of its kind in the process. The Alpha finally gave pause to its enraged actions, giving her an opening for a counter. She launched a powerful roundhouse kick in its face, cracking the bone mask in the process. The monster roared back in anger as the other Grimm stood in the back ready to pounce, eyes watching her every move, full of ravenous hunger. She put on her own steely gaze, grabbing her weapons and immediately jumping at the Alpha's throat.

* * *

 **Lelouch**

 _'What on earth is going on?'_

Something is up. Lelouch can tell. Ever since he woke up in this cave things have been weird. First off where was he? How did he get here? How on earth was he still alive? He inspected his body where he was stabbed. There was a massive scar, the wound now closed off. Besides that, there was no evidence of his death anywhere on his body. Even his old scars from his childhood years were gone. It was almost like he grew an entirely new body….

 _ʻDid Jeremiah bring me over to...no'_ his brain was already back to working at his situation. The former Margrave was too loyal to break his vow. Lelouch left behind specific instructions for him to destroy his corpse after Nunnally took the throne. Doing so, the power of Geass would leave their world forever. Did those people he met in the cave have something to do with it? Did these people come and get him for his Geass? Is this some sort of revenge scheme because of his world conquest? _'The girl, the one who called herself Ruby, said that they didn't know him. That could be a lie, but it didn't sound like one…'_ Lelouch's mind flipped and flopped back and forth. _'Then again who wouldn't know the face of the Demon Emperor, the man who had just taken over the world? Did they have a different sort of connection to Geass? Did they even HAVE a connection to it? Just who are they?'_

With every thought his heartbeat became louder and louder, banging against his ribcage about to break. Nothing made sense to him anymore. _ʻCalm down'_ his mind commanded him. He needed to be level-headed if he was going to figure out his situation. _'I just need to analyze the situation from the start.'_ As he replayed everything that had happened in his head, he heard something coming from outside his room. He sat up staring at the door trying to focus.

"I think I'm gonna head out to that RHOP for breakfast, instead…" A male voice spoke up.

 _'Some people talking about food outside I guess'_ he thought, but it didn't help him much in his current situation.

"Mind if I come with?" said a familiar voice, it was one of the girls. 'Weiss', if he was remembering correctly.

"Ummm...Sure" The male voice answered back.

"Hey Yang, can I borrow Bumblebee, please? The place is on the other side of town."

"Arc, the only time you get to ride my Bumblebee is if you use a sidecar." The other voice from the cave, he remembered her too. She was also here? Why? Was she here for the Demon Emperor? His Geass? _'Maybe just genuine concern'_ His mind betrayed his paranoia.

Though the conversation opened up a new question, why were they splitting off their forces? Is this a sign that they really don't recognize him or just because are they cocky now that the demon emperor has been sedated? The door clicking breaks him from his thoughts. Recognizing that they were coming in, he quickly lied back down hoping they believe that he was still resting.

He heard them open the door, but no one had entered. Turning over to look at the door, he saw a small head of red-tipped black hair poke in slightly. "Hello? Umm...are you alright?"

He got up slowly and greeted Ruby with a faux smile. "Oh Yes. You are….Ruby right?"

"Yep, that's me! And your Mr. Naked-Cave-Guy" she replied then her face immediately went red, realizing just she had just said. Lelouch could almost hear the facepalms her cohorts were making from behind the door.

"I guess I am" he responded awkwardly. He needed no help to stay in character for that line. He could tell that this girl is not used to a lot of social interactions. Those people were always the hardest to talk around because you were never really going to know what they are going to say next. Lelouch then noticed the other people filed into the room, minus the doctor.

"Well It's nice to see our leaders social skills haven't changed" he heard one of her allies deadpan.

"Yeah, well I don't really take comfort in that…" Another voice responded.

"You mean she was always like this?"

He recognized the first two voices. The first one was another girl from the cave. The voice that had a sense of calm that reminded him a bit of C.C., The other one was the one they called 'Yang' outside his door.

Then he noticed the third occupant. _'A boy?ʻ_ His mind went to Rolo immediately. He wore a white shirt that had seen better days, seeing how much had faded away from the shirt, it was complimented with orange straps and orange gloves and a small rainbow handkerchief coming out his pocket. Lelouch could guess that the boy was a farmer from the dirtiness of his gloves and his tan stopping underneath his sleeves. If Lelouch was not cautious before, the analytical gaze from the boy did it. _'A remnant of the child Geass users? Do they know where I am?'_

Then there was the quiet girl. She wore a white overcoat over a black tank top that crossed over to her neck and went all the way up to her raven black hair, she also seemed to have long black boots that reached up to her mid thigh and met her pants. Lelouch didn't think that particular fashion choice was easy to move around in, but then again he cared little about what fashion and functionality clothing had to offer as long as you could fight in it. Still, there was something about her that didn't sit right with Lelouch. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on at the moment…..

The other girl stuck out the most, seeing the first thing Lelouch noticed was her long golden hair. It was not neatly combed but it still had a presence to it something like a bonfire. She wore long brown leather overcoat that went down to her legs, curiously that's where she had placed a purple bandana.

After getting a good look at the others, he put on a fake smile. After all, he has a part to keep up. "Oh are these your friends, Ruby?"

"Umm...YES! They are!" she exclaimed, jumping back on track after taking the brunt of those insults.

"This is Yang!" she pointed at the golden haired one

"Sup," she raised her hand with a small smile on her face, her eyes scanning him.

"Oscar" she gestured to the farm boy who gestured a small wave in response. Lelouch responded with the same kind of wave.

"And Blake" she gestured to the last girl.

"Nice to meet you," she said boringly and unmoving.

 _'These two…..what is nagging me about them…?'_ At least he now had some names and faces to the voices.

"So... umm…" Ruby muttered "Have you gotten your memories back or?"

Lelouch did his best to smile awkwardly. He did the whole faux amnesia act in order to throw them off the trail of his true identity as the Demon Emperor after he survived his own execution. Now however, he was curious as to why they didn't recognize their world sovereign. His face plastered across every TV screen in the world and they still have no idea? Or _do_ they?

"No, I am afraid not….We haven't met before, have we?"

"I think we would remember that chin" the blonde girl blurted out. Okay, that was rude. What is wrong with his chin? Sure it was a tad bit narrow but nothing out of the ordinary. Still, they don't seem to know who he is. Was his face changed beyond recognition when he was ʻsavedʻ?

"Yang, don't go all 'Weiss' on the poor guy," Blake admonished her friend "It's not his fault he can't remember his name, he is just trying to do his best"

Yang stared at her friend and let out a frustrated breath. Lelouch could tell that there was some tension between the two girls.

Then suddenly Lelouch finally realized what disturbed him about Blake.

She had cat ears on her head.

 _'Just what the hell is going on? Is she some kind of Code R experiment?'_

"Umm…" he stuttered out. For once, Lelouch has no real response. He scanned the other people in the room and _they_ did not seem to have any cat ears, nor gave any indication that anything was wrong.

Ruby had become distracted by some of the doctor's diagrams, and Oscar just made his way to the other end of the room, seeming nonchalant about it. Then there was Yang. She was leaning back against the door and by the way she was staring at him, Lelouch started to think that it was weird for him to _not_ have cat ears. Blake glared at him, noticing that he was looking at.

"What?" she asked sharply

"Nothing," he told her. "Just I have never seen a human with cat ears before"

The second those words left his mouth, her entire face changed to a powerful scowl, one that would make Cornelia jealous "That's because I'm a Faunus!" She retorted back, her words cold.

 _ʻFaunus? Whatʻs a Faunus?'_ These thoughts began to race through his head and his heart began to start beating faster again. She implied that she herself wasn't human what else could she be? Was she messing with him or was this still a part of a grand scheme? _Was_ she some scientific experiment? No, her answer implied that there are other cat-human people out there. But Lelouch has never seen one and he knew that no other species except humans lived on this world. But now this girl right in front of him challenged that basic fact. His mind started reeling trying to find an answer. But he had to keep up his charade for now.

"Of course, my apologies it must be the medication they have me on" Lelouch lied "I meant to say is that I haven't met a Faunus before, I apologize."

"Even though you claim to have no memory?" Yang asked him suspiciously.

Smart girl, but he was better still. "I guess. I don't know. It doesn't make sense does it?" he told them in a fake nervous voice. The cat girlʻs scowl had faded away and while Yang's demeanor didn't change, her posture did. She seemed to relax back, but he could tell her muscles were still tense, ready to defend if need be. "No, it doesn't"

"OOKAY every one lets cool down" Ruby interjected, sliding in front of them so fast, it made him jump. "We just came down to see how you are doing and sorry for hitting and probably giving you a concussion"

Lelouch just sat there and blinked for a second, not because of the sudden change of tone, but the strange appearance of rose petals. _'Where did those come from?'_ He wondered.

"Umm….Thank you for your concern and for bringing me here." He lamely thanked them.

His mind was going a mile a minute. He needed more information about his situation. He looked out to the window by his bed and stared outside.

"Oh, by the way, where am I exactly?" He asked his eyes not leaving the window sill.

"Did they not tell you? You are in The Kingdom of Mistral"

Lelouch turned his head so fast he almost got whiplash "Where?"

"Umm" Ruby reached into her pockets and pulled out a white rectangular device. It then expanded revealing a holographic pad with symbols and keys that Lelouch could not make out. Ruby then shook the device, nothing happened. She tapped and shook the phone again to no avail. "Ugg, Uncle Qrow made it look so easy! Yang can you help….ah here we go!" She flipped the phone and right before Lelouch eyes was a holographic map, however it looked nothing like any map that he had ever seen.

All the landmasses were completely different from what he had known. The lands projected here were messy, like it was a just stain on a napkin. _'It must be a fake, a trap of some sort. There is no other option…'_ He got out of his bed and walked toward the holographic map and stared at it, analyzing every detail as his heart beat faster.

"What is this?" He asked with genuine uncertainty.

Ruby looked over at Blake, exchanging a surprised gaze. Lelouch couldn't read minds (unlike a certain someone) but he guessed that they doubted the sincerity of his question.

Blake then looked over to Lelouch "This is a map of Remnant, a map of the entire world….."

"Remnant?" Lelouch whispered underneath his breath. _'As in pieces or a fracture? Interesting naming choice'_

"Where are we on this map?" He asked staring subtlety amazed at the holographic technology before him.

"Right there" She pointed to an area right underneath what appeared to a big body of water. "We are not too far from Haven Academy"

"Ahhh, I see. And what does this particular academy specialize in teaching?"

"Uhhhh…..the Huntsmen Academy?" Yang half asked, half told with a raised eyebrow. "Ya know, it's a school that teaches you how to fight?"

"So it's like a military training academy?" Lelouch wondered, now more interested in this place he landed in. _'Perhaps this is an old secret training center that I stumbled in to? To capture me? My Geass? But how am I still alive?'_ Lelouch's mind was reeling. He just couldn't figure it all out.

Back in the room, Ruby shook her head to Lelouch's question. "No they train Huntsmen, they're kinda like _super_ military but, they deal with more dangerous and awesome stuff!"

"Like what?"

Lelouch almost immediately regretted that question as the room grew quiet. Everyone just stared at him in utter shock and disbelief.

"You can't be serious….." Yang managed to sputter out. "There's no way you _can't_ know"

Blake nodded on the other side of the room "Yeah. Even with Amnesia, there are some things you can't forget"

Ruby chimed in next. "Yea! Grimm! Huge evil monsters. How can you forget about them?"

The three girls were clearly talking about something very big and important, but for the life of him, he couldn't piece it together. There were so many things going off in his head as it is. All these unknowns were making little sense of his current location on world view. _'Faunus? Remnant? Huntsmen? Grimm? None of it makes sense, and every time I try to understand, my head starts pounding worse.'_

He started looking around the room to try and calm his thoughts. That's when he noticed the boy in the corner. While usually not an important discovery, this was different. _'He hasn't said a word this entire time. I had forgotten he was even here'_

As Lelouch's gaze drifted to his eyes, he saw something he shouldn't have. _'His gaze…..I know that gaze! He's analyzing me!'_ As Lelouch's gaze sharpened, the boy; Oscar; his eyes shimmered and turn soft, looking away as if nothing was amiss.

 _'What was th….'_ His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in his eyes. It was as if they became the sun itself. He staggered his feet a little, doing his best to stifle the pain. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to hide it from his captors.. All of their eyes quickly changed from skeptical to worry.

"Hey, are you alright," Yang asked in a tone that caught Lelouch off guard. _'So she does have a heart somewhere…'_

He straightened up, the sudden pain leaving as quickly as it came. "I am…fine. Just a passing migraine" he told them, and they once again leaned back to a more relax posed. Their eyes still lingered the question of suspicion however, except for Ruby who sat back fully relaxed.

Lelouch then gave another glance at Oscar. _'That pain…it felt just like….'_ His mind flashed back to the worst mistake he had ever made; his confrontation of Euphemia at her unveilment of the SAZ. That boy was the cause. _'That must mean he is connected to Geass, but in what way?'_ Lelouch noticed him trying to side glance back at him.

 _'He is dangerous. I can't stay here. I need a way out….'_

Looking around the room, he wasn't catching anything that could help him out of his situation.

 _'There has to be something….wait…there! That should work just fine'_

Lelouch put his mask back on and tried to play the fool. "I have no idea what are you talking ab..." he started to say before his legs stopped following his command. He was just an inch away from the ground when he saw a flash of red and yellow. He looked up to see Yang and Ruby.

"OH NO! Are you okay?"

"Yeah geez dude, don't start falling for us just yet"

Ruby rolled her eyes "Not now, Yang! He almost hit the floor!"

 _'Was that a pun?'_ he thought briefly, as he struggled to remain conscious. He still wasn't fully recovered from his apparent resurrection.

The two helped Lelouch back to his bed, His ability to walk almost non-existent right now. He was surprised that Yang was so interested in helping him from how cold her attitude was to him earlier. When he lied back down, her face still had the tone as it did when she came into the room. _'She almost reminds me of Schneizel. He was always good at changing his outward attitude at the drop of a hat'_ Then there was Ruby, her eyes were dripping with concern. _'Is she like this to everyone?'_ he wondered.. Despite every possible difference imaginable between the two, she still reminded him of Nunnally.

"I think our friend has had enough for one day" Oscar announced from the back. This put Lelouch even more on edge. _ʻHe doesn't speak like a kid at all. And they all defer to him?'_

Ruby's expression grew sad while Yang sighed. "Alright Oz. I want some breakfast now, anyway" Yang patted her own stomach.

Blake seemed to twitch on hearing the boy's nickname but just nodded as the three of them started walking out.

"See ya later, dude" Yang said unceremoniously while waving, Blake's goodbye a more conserved "Rest well"

Oscar said bye rather sheepishly, catching Lelouch off guard. _'He is a suspicious one…'_ He looked at the last one left, the young Ruby girl. She turned to leave, still frowning, but before she walked out, she turned back to Lelouch and gave him a small melancholic wave.

Lelouch sat in the room and stared at the ceiling fan spinning around. _'Despite all the 'information' I have been given, I have more question then answers. How did I get to this ʻMisteralʻ? What is the deal with the cat-people? What were these' Grimm' they were talking about? And that kid….. and how on earth am I even still alive?'_

"One thing at a time, I guess" He muttered out loud to himself as he grabbed a set of keys from the pocket of his hospital gown.

 _'I have to get out of here'_

* * *

 **Ruby**

Ruby found the two other members of team RNJR in the Hospital Cafeteria. Nora, to no one's surprise, was well on her way to eating through another big plate of pancakes that reached up to her chin. Ren, on the other hand, had just been eating some rice out of a bowl, making sure she didn't overdo it.

RBY and Oscar sat next to them, though she wasn't very hungry, not with the weight of giving a guy amnesia on her mind. Nora, on the other hand, was eager to know more about the guy they almost killed in a random cave. Oscar and Yang managed to fill her and Ren in between bites of food.

"He hasn't heard of the Huntsmen Academy?" She muffled through her pancakes.

"I know, right? He says he doesn't even remember the Grimm!" Yang snorted as she took another bite of a cheeseburger. Hey, just because its breakfast doesn't mean you can't eat whatever you want.

Nora _slurped_ down another Pancake, a technique that left both Blake and Oscar with a face somewhere between disgust and amazement "Wow you must have really hit him hard on the head!"

Ruby slammed her hands on the table "We both hit him on the head. We are accomplices in this. I _will_ take you down with me!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Nora.

Ren let out a sigh, setting down his newly brewed tea. "All that aside, was there nothing you could gather from this guy?"

"Conveniently, no" Yang commented. "The guy was a blank slate in every meaning of the word"

Ruby agreed. She couldn't help but feel sad for the guy, his entire life before him was just gone. "How long do you suppose till his memory comes back?"

Ren shrugged. "Without a proper diagnosis from the doctor, it's hard to say. It could take weeks, months, or even years. There is a possibility that his memories might never come back."

Ruby let out a miserable grown, her conscious growing heavier and heavier like she was carrying a bag of sand that kept filling up with each step she took. As a huntress, she is sworn to uphold the peace and defend the innocent in any way they could. Just when things were finally coming together, they maimed an innocent civilian? She could not help but feel this was gonna be a new wave of bad luck. _ʻNo! I can't think like that! I have to find a way to help this guy'_ Ruby nodded her head to herself, getting a raised eyebrow from Blake.

" _If_ he is telling the truth" Yang added. "Everything about this guy just seems….off"

"What? Do you think he is a bad guy or something?" Ruby broke out of her thoughts to ask. Yang slumped her shoulders and reached for her one good hand and held it tight. A movement that became quite frequent these days. "No! I just…I don't trust him, that's all"

"He is just hurt and we need to help in any way we can! That's our job as hunters!"

"Maybe, but I don't think it is a risk we can afford" Yang's voice raising just a tad as her grip tightened. "Especially after everything that has happened"

Ruby knew what she meant. Lionheart's betrayal, as well Raven showing up with Cinder to kill them. Luckily for them, the battle ended in their favor, but not without cost.

 _'We don't know who else might work for Salem…'_ Yang intoned

"You think he is a spy for this 'Salem' person?" Blake vocalized Yang's thoughts, wondering to know more about the vision she had gotten the other day (Which Ruby has once again forgotten to fill her in on, but hey it's been a long day)

"I don't know what to think…" she answered exhaustingly, slowly relaxing her grip.

"I don't think he knows either" Oscar commented off handedly.

Both teams took a look at the reincarnated school teacher, something that Oscar clearly wasn't ready for. His entire body quickly froze for a second and his face went red.

"The child speaks!" Nora mused which was rewarded with a quick apple jab from Yang who somehow got her hands on the fruit and chucked it at her face.

"Well, I am talking about the way he acted. It was really off" he told them. "I can't describe it all that well, but I noticed after he mentioned your ears, Blake"

Blake's ears instinctively flattened to her head. "What about them?"

"I uhhh…no...nothing! Uhhh….they're neat!" he stumbled out his words, however Blake's face seemed unchanged. He got even more red as Yang and Nora started snickering at his mistake. ' _ **Perhaps 'neat' was not the best choice of words'**_ Ozpin chimed out in his head. _'Not helping!'_ Oscar quickly tried to change the subject back. "But what I am talking about is his response. It seemed….I don't know….too confused?"

The two groups looked at each other in bewilderment not quite sure what he meant. He couldn't really blame them. He didn't quite know how to put the wisdom he has been getting into words. The information from the old wizard's head was coming in chunks and not being processed correctly.

"What do you mean by that?" Blake asked the child farmer.

"I don't know. For the most part I do believe that he is confused about his situation just as much as we are. For now it would be best watch him for the next couple of days while we plan our leave for Atlas. Or if his intentions are not pure, we wait until he gets himself caught in his own web of deception. Then we will deal with him accordingly"

Nora scratched her head, already finished with her pancakes. "Wait….so was that little Oscar or good ol' Ozpin?"

"Uhhhhh….both, kinda? I think?"

"I AGREE!" Ruby shouted out but quickly covered her mouth. "I mean, I think it's a great idea"

"Smoooth" Yang chuckled.

"BUT! I think we should still look out for him, at least until he is out of the hospital. He still needs our help and it _is_ our job after all!" Ruby finished while glaring at her sister.

Everyone agreed as Nora quickly downed another small stack of pancakes she found and Ren finished his tea (Which quite frankly took the most amount of time). After today, Ruby felt like they could use a good 9-hours of sleep, or a batch of strawberry ice cream. However before they left, they were stopped by Nora.

"Are you forgetting something?"

RBY turned toward their energetic friend. She was showing a particularly evil smile. _'Oh NO!'_ Ruby knew that smile.

"Have you forgotten the bet?"

They did, they most certainly did. Their faces and expressions showed that much. Most of them figured that the bets were invalid because of their trip to the emergency room.

"We're still doing that?" Blake wondered

"Yes my kitty friend! We are!" She smirked

"Donʻt call me 'kitty'"

"Sorry" Nora genuinely apologized without breaking her gaze with Yang.

Yang sighed "What do want Nora?"

"Simple, my fiery acquaintance. I want to ride your bike"

Yang's answer was short and sweet. "Hell no"

Ruby knew as much as anyone that nobody but Yang gets to ride Bumblebee. She wouldn't even let _Ruby_ drive it, and she was her sister. Her motorcycle was one of her most prized possessions, and anyone else who would lay their hands on it were never seen again. _'Now Nora wants to give it a shot? Maybe we should get out of the hospital, first…'_

"It was your deal, you agreed to it. With friends no less" Nora reminded her. "Is the big, honorable huntress going to break an oath to her friends?" Nora asked with fake disappointment.

The two of them just stared at each other. Yang giving Nora a flaming look of anger while Nora countered it with a cold smug, it would make Weiss jealous. In the end, the smug won.

"FINE!" She started, clearly not happy about this. "But any scratches or damages and you will wake up dead!"

"Hah jokes on you! If you do that, I won't wake up, anyway" Nora replied "Keys please"

Ruby sighed. _'That could have ended SOOO much worse'_ Even better, if Nora was distracted with Bumblebee, then she might be too busy to have them doing any other horrible challenges. Memories of Kaneshon started to comeback in the forefront of her thoughts. She shook her head _'Those times are over now. It's back to being like the good old days'_ They had a lot ahead of them; the other relics, the location of the maidens, and the defeat of Salem. It was all going to be good from here on out. _'We have no more Cinder, the Grimm aren't as big of a threat as they were a year ago, and best of all, no weird cult members chasing us. Things are looking up!'_

"Wait a minute…" Her sister muttered "Where are my keys?"

"Huh?" Ruby blurted no longer on her thought tangent. She turned to find her sister was patting herself down. She was rummaging through all her pockets but still came up empty. "My keys, where are they?"

"Did you drop them somewhere?" Oscar inquired

"Maybe…..I am sure I had them a little while ago" Her voice starting to raise again, her hand once again starting to twitch.

Ruby tried to calm her big sister "It's alright. All we have to do is retrace your steps…" but the second the words left her lips, she saw a familiar face. The doctor was walking through the cafeteria looking all frantic. Her eyes scanned the room, seeing Ruby and her friends, and started walking over and she did _not_ look happy.

"Ms. Rose have you seen my patient?"

"What do you mean?" she asked "We left him in his room"

"Well he isn't there now. He's gone"

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed in shock. This didn't make sense. He barely had enough strength to stand, much less make a run for it. Was he kidnapped? Or is he still in the hospital somewhere?

"I came in to check on him after you left. We just had the test results back and we were going to show him results, but he was gone! Did he tell you anything? Do you have any idea where he went?"

Ruby thought back to the room. "No….he almost fell over talking to us all confused and everything, so we left him to rest, I swear!"

Ruby's explanation sparked a thought in Yang's head. "Almost fell…"

Before she could explain, she bolted through the door. Everyone ran after her, wondering what happened.

"Yang, wait up!" Ruby called after her sister. _'Why is she running to the parking lot?'_ She rounded the corner and stopped in front of a line of motorcycles, however one spot right in the middle was empty. Before anyone could ask what was wrong, she erupted.

"That bastard!" Yang's eyes started to turn red and her hair was illuminating like a raging inferno. "He stole my bike! I am going to kill him!"

"Wha? How did he do that?" Nora asked, sad that her ride is gone.

"Maybe when the fell…." Ruby mused, replaying that particular scene in her mind.

"FELL MY ASS! He stole my keys!" Yang shot back.

"When did this happen?" the doctor asked. Ruby told her everything that transpired. When she was done, the doctor just simply told them. "If what you are saying is true it could mean that the amnesia is psychological and the abundance of the new information has triggered a 'fight or flight' response. It's obvious he chose 'flight'"

"You don't think he is lying?" Blake asked.

"If he is, then he's one of the best I have ever seen" she responded "Either way, it won't matter unless we get him back to hospital care quickly"

Nora looked at her "Huh? What do you mean? Do you have a shot to give him or something?"

"No, I need him back so that he won't die" she answered blankly. That response gave Ruby a deep cold shiver that penetrated her bones. _ʻWhat is she talking about?! Did I hurt him that bad!?'_

"I thought he only had a concussion and bruising" Oscar said in a briskly voice. The doctor's response seemed to shaken him up as well.

"True, but as we looked over the imaging we got from that scar on his chest, we found that it ran deep into his body, right through his heart, to the point were almost 65% of it is covered in scar tissue"

"Is that even possible?" Ren wondered.

"No, this is a rare case. The scar tissue around his heart is weak as it, and the amount of stress this is causing, his already wounded heart could rip apart"

"Oh my gods…" were the only words that could leave Rubyʻs lips. This wasn't good. They have to find him and fast. "Can you help him?" she asked the doctor. She nodded "A simple heart transplant or robotics would suffice but I need him here within the next 36 hours or he will be most likely be dead"

"Don't worry, Doctor! We'll find him!" Ruby put on a determined look as the doctor ran back inside to inform the staff. She turned to look at the others and started forming a plan.

"Ok so Yang, can you call Uncle Qrow back to tell him? He can be our 'eyes in the sky'"

Yang sighed. "Ok Rubes, but im going to start searching right after. I want my bike back!"she yelled as she ran off, phone in hand.

Ruby ignored her rage over her bike and continued. "Ok Ren and Nora, you guys go get Jaune and Weiss and fill them in. Then you can check that side of town."

They both nodded as she turned to Oscar and Blake. "Blake, can you ask your White Fang friends to help?"

Blake put her hand to her chin. "Possibly, as long as they know my father is back in command…."

"Great! And Oscar….uhhhh…."

All of a sudden, his posture changed. "It's quite alright, Ms. Rose. I personally know a few places where people may find refuge"

"Uhhhh… yea, ok! Good! Im gonna go make sure Yang doesn't kill him before we get him back."

At that moment, the rest of team dispatched and ran off to find their motorcycle thief. Hopefully they will find him in time before his heart explodes or before he gets himself in even more trouble.

* * *

 **Shay D. Mann**

There was no point in denying it anymore, their leader had abandoned them.

It has been weeks since they had last heard from Raven. They had moved across the continent to a new camp on her orders and then, nothing, from neither Raven nor Vernal.

That only meant one of two things, that they the two had been killed or that they had been captured.

Whatever the case it spelled disaster for the entire clan. Their powerful leader was nowhere to be seen. She did not meet them at the rendezvous point that she set out for them after breaking camp. So, naturally, Shay took it upon himself to take over the tribe.

Some of the tribesmen resisted the idea and some even left, but in the end he had a considerable amount of force behind him. Now here they were, back at their old hideout.

The ruined town stood as a testament to the Branwen Tribe's power. Clearing the Grimm nest out just over 10 years ago had cemented their hold on the region, using it as a forward operating base for raiding the other small towns. He still never understood why Raven made them just up and leave 2 years ago….

But her power was Shay's power now, and he needed to make sure it stayed that way.

Shay stood in what used to be the old mayor's house. He had gathered _his_ clansmen in the old living room. His scroll was showing an updated map of all the nearby town locations….well the ones that were still standing, anyway. They were running out of supplies. They needed to get more, and soon. Luckily for them, the small mountain village Ume was just wasting their supplies on themselves, so might as well take some for a better cause.

"Most of the food and supplies are stored in the houses at the west side of the village" He filled them in. "The armory is located in the center of town, so after one group comes in and raids the food the other will loot the armory from the other side and then we then burn the village down!" He smiled after telling them the plan.

Thanks to the recent attacks on the kingdoms, more and more people decided that they like the village life. More people, more stuff that the Branwens can take.

"SOLID PLAN, SIR!" shouted one of the clansmen. Causing everyone else in the room to flinch and cover their ears.

"Yea thanks, Reed…" Shay grumbled.

"NO PROBLEM!" he loudly replied, leaving everyone in 100 yards with bleeding ears.

Shay cursed not so under his breath. Sometimes he wondered why he even decided to bring Reed with him. The man was loyal to the Branwen name, practically kissed the ground where Raven walked. Though he was also one of their best brawlers, so it wasn't too much of a pain to have him around.

He heard some whispers from the back.

"That's the best he could come up with?"

"It's not bad coming from Shay"

"Not as good as Raven"

"Yeah with her we could have taken Kaneshon!"

"HEY!" Shay slammed his fists onto the table, but the recoil bounced off the table and hit himself in the face. _'Damn semblance'_ he cursed again. He hated being compared to Raven. Even when she was the leader, all she ever did was just look down at him, those eyes red eyes always judging him. The same eyes her bitch of a daughter had. It made him want to scream.

The act got his peers attention; all eyes were on him now, and he knew just what to say. "After this, we will continue with another raid on other big villages, from Gaile to Higanbana. The Branwen tribe will reclaim _all_ of Anima" Shay commented, his eyes now full of the future glory that would soon be his.

"Getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, are we?" Roz, his second in command, asked him.

"We barely have enough men to do _this_ job, much less the rest of the continent!"

"You know the Branwen code?" Shay announced. "The recruitment for the end of each ʻsiegeʻ?"

"Will that be enough?" one of them asked

"Sure" he added. "The strong always survive, and we are a convincing lot" he said, adding a smile to his face.

"We'll give them the choice that we all made. To live, or die at the hands of the Grimm"

The group roared loudly and drank into the night. Shay was looking forward to the raid because tomorrow, he will step out of Raven's shadow and be the true ruler of Branwen tribe in the eyes of his peers.

After all, he was here and she was not. Who could stand in his way?

"Are we going to Kaneshon after?" another clansman asked

"Nah, we can leave them alone" he told them "Those guys are weird…"

* * *

 **AN: aaaand scene. . .**

 **Wow, this chapter took a long time didnʻt it? To give you all some perspective I was writing this on and off since June. Writingʻs Ruby scene really killed me as well as trying to figure out Lelouch, in general, was a pain for both me and Rando.**

 **So sorry for the wait, but hey now you have Enji and Lelouch stealing a motorcycle in your mind now, what fun. On that, note I am excited to tell what exactly is happening next for this story especially for Ruby and Lelouch. I am having a really fun time writing this story and I hope you guys like it.**

 **I would also like to give a shoutout to my beta reader RandomName3064 for doing another fantastic edit to this chapter. He went above and beyond in this chapter, Speaking of which...**

* * *

 **RandomName3064: Sorry all that it took so long. im kinda slow. Hope you enjoyed it as much as i did editing it**

* * *

 **Any way, I think I am going to take a small break after this before work on my STRQ story then maybe another chapter of "TAOD" or "Who is Zero?"**


	3. Beliefs

Code: RWBY

Turn 3

* * *

 **"Beliefs"**

 _A life that lives without doing anything is the same as a slow death_

* * *

 **Mercury**

"So….are you telling me that you're an alien?" Mercury asked the older man as they continued walking down the path, making their way to an offsite facility so they might appropriate an air vehicle to reach _her_ Palace. He didn't like the place all that much. Something just felt…off about it, you know, _besides_ the Grimm spawning there. He had asked about the old manʻs story to keep distracted, but he really could not believe it. It was like something out of X-ray and Vav volume 3. _'At least its keeping my mind of that creepy castle…'_

"In a sense" the old knight replied. "Though I would prefer not to be called as such."

"But you look so human" Mercury added "You're not something I would think that I would picture as an alien."

"I _am_ human, just not from your world. One that is quite similar in many ways, but much different in others."

"So…like a parallel world, where everything is the same but slightly a bit off?"

Mercury's comic geek side of him was gushing just a tiny bit, but the eye-patched man was looking down at him with a scowl, clearly becoming annoyed at his pestering. "No, our worlds are much too different for it to be what you call parallel."

To his chagrin, the newly awoken member of the party finally spoke up. "So how did you get here?" Emerald inquired, intrigued by the giant man now joining their party.

He sighed and started to give an abridged version of his history. "In my world, I served the great Emperor Charles Zi Britannia. He was a dedicated and effective ruler, and I served him faithfully for over 30 years. His reward was to grant me the position 'Holy Knight of One'."

Emerald was left confused. "Okay, so he gave you a fancy title? What does any of that have to do with how you got here?"

Non-plused, he continued. "That 'title' showed the world that I was the empire's greatest tool, and while I can see war is but a distant memory in this world, for me it was every day. The world was chaotic and filled with those that would deny progress. My Lord yearned to save it, and to that end, I acted as his right hand. Together we were going to save the world from its decay."

"You sound like a storybook cliché," Emerald responded, the story triggering a childhood memory to flash in her mind. Images of picture books and reading with her mother. "…He sounds like a good man."

"He _was_. Even when his family would fall or stand in his way, it would not deter his path, and he had almost seen his dream realized, until..." Bismark stopped, as his face twisted into a barely suppressed rage. "Until on the eve of his victory, he was murdered by his young son Lelouch. He took his father's place on the throne as Emperor and destroyed everything his father has built out of spite." He finished with a deep exhale.

Mercury nodded. _'An evil prince trope? cool'_ This Lelouch was alright in Mercury's book. He can respect a kid who is willing to kill his father.

"So let me guess, you, the loyal knight of the Emperor, challenged the royal prince to a fight to the death and you lost."

The old man clenched his fists, rage returning in an instant "Yes. The prince had an agent infiltrate our ranks, one who was loyal only to him. The traitor destroyed most of the other knights. In the end, I alone was left to challenge him. I was ready to regain my country, my world, MY HONOR!" Bismarck yelled through his still gritted teeth. "But the boy struck me down. Never in over a century had a Knight of One fall in battle, and yet an upstart manages to pull it off."

They had almost stopped walking due to Bismarck's rising temper, yet Hazel kept them moving forward, fully understanding his anger.

After he cooled off a bit, Emerald was brave enough to ask another question. "Is that how you got your scar?" she was pointing at a large line that divided Bismarck's face completely in two.

He nodded, "I indeed fell by his sword. I gripped onto life as hard as I could, but then, everything just went white. I woke up on the coast of this land and decided to head this way. Then I met you three."

"Its destiny." Hazel finally spoke up. _'He was sent for a reason. A way to finally win this endless struggle. To make Ozpin pay for his crimes'_

"If such a force exists. Then it will bring me back to my home."

"You want to avenge your king? Even if he had your ass handed to you the last time?"

The look that Mercury received made it clear that he should not make such a comment again. "He is on the path to destroy everything that my Lord has tried to build" Bismarck clenched his fist. "He must be killed for his transgressions."

Mercury noticed the pain in his eyes, the anger. It was similar to how Cinder's eyes light up any time Ruby was mentioned around her, but for him, it was more….prevalent.

"Come on. The kid was like what? 17? 18? How much damage can one kid have on the entire world?"

"You of all people, are gonna ask that, Em?" Mercury chuckled. "After everything we did at Beacon, it just seems kinda funny."

"That's was different!" Emerald stammered. "We just exposed the broken system that was always in place. The paranoia and the frustration that the world is feeling has always been there. We just put that information out into the open; gave them all a push."

Hazel gave them a sign to halt. Through the tree line was a fenced in area, with a small outpost base. A Mistrali styled airship sat on a small helipad. _'So that's our way out? Fly low to stay off the radar, and head back to the creepy castle. Just need a way in…'_

The main issue would be to get past the guards. Bismarck had silently agreed to go first, but looked at Emerald before he moved in. "To answer your question, I had thought so too at first. He was a boy, not even a combatant. What could he possibly do to stop his Father? That arrogant way of thinking was what lead to my demise by his knight. He is cruel, cunning, and manipulative. All in the worst possible way." He stood up and clenched his hands while beginning to walk off.

"Make no mistake, Lelouch Vi Britannia is a danger to all he encounters."

* * *

 **Yang**

Yang was barely able to contain her anger.

She had built that motorcycle from scratch, it took her _2 years_ to build. It was a one of a kind bike. Also not entirely street legal but that wasn't the issue at the moment.

 _'That kid stole her! When I get my hands on him...'_

Everyone was searching the streets for her bike, but to no avail. _'Just how far could he have gotten?'_

Yang's scroll pinged. Quickly pulling it out and looking at it, she saw a message from 'Ice Queen' and opened it.

[ _Just saw your motorcycle speed past us. It was heading to the entrance of the city. Meet you there._ ]

 _'Finally'_ Yang quickly filled Ruby in before heading to the main gate. As she approached, she found her sister already there talking to one of the guards at the entrance.

"He just came in speeding by half-naked. We tried to stop the kid, but he just swerved around us" the Guard didn't look too happy filling Ruby in.

"Yeah it was actually kind of awesome…." Her buddy sent the second guard a nasty look.

"Yea. Say that after _you_ almost get run over by some crazy naked guy!"

Ruby scrunched her face, slightly perturbed being reminded of the boy's current state of dress "Ok. Thanks for your help."

Ruby walked away from the now arguing guards as Yang ran up to her.

"Where is he?"

"He drove straight out of the Kingdom, somehow avoiding all the guards! Maybe he's a professional driver, or something…"

"I don't care what kind of professional he is or was or whatever, he is taking my bike on a dangerous cross country joyride!"

"Didn't you do the same thing on your way here?" Ruby raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"I had smarts, weapons, and Lien. I was more than fine." she responded matter-of-factly.

Yang started walking off, but noticed Ruby wasn't following.

"What are you waiting for? We gotta go catch this guy, right?"

"Well I wanted to wait for the others, Yang! Jaune and Weiss are almost here, but Blake and Sun ran into some Adam loyalists and now are a little busy holding them off." Ruby started rambling while looking at her scroll. "Nora accidentally punched a cop, so Ren is busy working that out. And I don't have Oscar's number so, bad planning on my part."

"How do you accidentally punch a cop in the face?" Yang asked curiously.

"You, of all people, are going to ask that question? Anyway, they will be here soon. Five minutes, I promise!"

"No, we need to go now, before he gets away!" she wasn't going to let her bike fall in the hands of a questionable stranger. Bumblebee was her life's work. She put her heart and soul in creating that bike.

"But the sun is setting, and he is out there in Grimm territory. It would be kinda hard to track and catch him with just us. Besides, it's not like you have a tracker embedded in your bike."

Yang stayed quiet for a few moments; her face blank. Ruby blinked and immediately facepalmed. "You have a tracker on the bike, don't you."

She did, she had completely forgotten about it. In her defense, that guy pissed her off.

She took her scroll out of her pocket and opened the tracker app. Unlike regular communication connecting to the CCT, the device resonates with Yang's scroll directly. The range was a short but maybe…. ' _And he is still in range. Perfect'_

"He's not that far. Just a couple of clicks out of the city, and he has..." Yang looked closer at the readout. "Stopped moving?"

She looked Ruby who seemed just as confused as she was. _'After all the effort he made to get out of the city, why the hell would he just stop not even that far away? He r_ un _out of gas? I could have swore I topped it off….'_ Yang outwardly kept calm, but her mind started thinking up worse scenarios. _'Maybe she broke down? No no no! I can't think like that! He stopped. Let's just get there and find him. And punch the bastard right across his pointy chin.'_

"Okay, Im gonna send the coordinates to the others so we can….wahhh!" Yang grabbed Ruby by the hood, dragging her out of the main gate. Ruby eventually relented and Yang let her go. The two of them broke into a full-on sprint as they ran to the spot their naked friend seemed to be sitting at. They had to hurry, the sun had just begun to dip into the horizon, and the surrounding forest began to reach over the sky, blocking out the light from the moon.

Fortunately, the roads out of the city were properly lit, but that would only go so far. They couldn't let that get their guard down. With what has been happening these past few days, more Grimm are roaming around the city's outskirts, looking for a meal.

They had no idea how long she was running, but eventually, they got to the place where the signal stopped, at a fork in the road. Yang got to the fork first, looked around, and saw something that shocked her to her very core. _'No no nonononono!'_

There on the fork was her precious bumblebee in a complete wreck.

"NOOOOO!" Yang rushed over to her bike, scanning the wreckage to see the scope of the damage. The paint job was scratched on one side, and riddled with dents. Hopefully that was the scope of the problem. She was so focused on the bike that she didn't hear Ruby approach.

"I heard you scream, what happened!? Are you okay?! Did you find him?!" She looked down at the bike "Oh...I uhhhh….it doesn't look that bad?"

Yang's eyes flashed red. "Doesn't look bad!? Do you know how long it took me to make this bike?!"

"Umm…yeah. I was there you know, watching you build it, helping with some stuff" Ruby said, looking at and around the bike. Yang's eyes glowed hotter. She took in several deep breaths to try to center herself.

"….Maybe he crashed at some point and then made his way here and left it?" Yang said, standing up. She tried to start it, and to her relief, it turned over, but the idle had a slight rattle to it. _'That's not good! I KNEW he was bad news!'_

She looked to the road. "He's long gone by now. I knew we shouldn't have trusted him! I mean he just shows up out of nowhere in a place with no civilians? I'm betting he was a spy the whole time!"

"Yang, that's not possible! If he were a spy, why would he have run off on the first sign of trouble? We didn't have any idea who he even was!"

"Even _if_ he wasn't a spy, everything about him is off. He is hiding something Rubes, why else would he have run off like that?" Yang took another deep breath, "The innocent never run, Ruby."

"We don't know who he is, but it is our job to find him, and that what I'm gonna do! It's our job as Hunters to help people, and his life is in danger, or did you forget that?"

"Whatever…" Yang went back to looking at her bike, turning it off and sighing. "He should be somewhere around here; N*** Boy doesn't strike me as an athlete. It looks like all the weight goes to his height!"

"Actually Yang, I think he..."

Yang started going further down the path, not listening to her sister. _'She's always been too nice to complete strangers. Once we find this kid, I'm gonna beat his ass, complicated heart problem or not!'_ Yang slowed to a stop. The guy was dying, and she was thinking about decking the bastard? What has happened to her? Didn't she want to be a Hunter to travel the world? Save others? Find her mother sure, but not to be this mean to a guy that just escaped from a _hospital bed_ _'Maybe Ruby was right. Even if can't trust him as far as I can throw him, which would probably be about 15 yards…..with a good wind behind me…'_ She shook her head _'he isn't worth that much rage. Maybe he really isn't working for her…'_

At the very least, they needed to save him to question him again. Then she can get him back for stealing her bike, with something a little less violent.

 _'Wait. Where is Ruby?'_ She looked around, but her sister had not been following behind her. Now that she was thinking about it both her and Ruby left the city at the same time, but Yang got to Bumblebee first. Her sister had a speed semblance, yet she came in behind her?

Yang ran back to her bike, but Ruby was gone.

* * *

 **Lelouch**

 _'This thing cannot be street legal…'_ Lelouch thought as was navigating through the forest. _'Driving a suped-up motorcycle is much harder than it seems. Rivalz made it look so easy…'_ Lelouch could hardly stay on the seat, let alone drive in a straight line. It was only a miracle that he swerved away from those armed guards at the last second.

He made it to a fork in the road and turned left, with some difficulty. As he straightened out, he accelerated too fast and finally fell off, the bike sliding down the road without him. Now he had no choice but to continue his path on foot.

 _'Damn it! And I'm sure they are already hot on my trail.'_ Thinking quick, he pushed the bike towards the other road, broke a few branches and knocked down some leaves, then took off in the opposite direction.

Granted, Lelouch had no idea where he was even going. He had no idea where he was. From what he could tell he was in some part of Area 11, but which settlement was unknown. He started going off a list in his head as he went forward. _'it can't be the Tokyo Settlement. It has a long way to go before it will be fully repaired after FLEIJA. The city was too well kempt for it to be one of the ghettos. Could it be one of the smaller cities, or am I really in some remote unheard of country?'_

Without warning, his mouth tasted like copper. He kneeled over and coughed up a small amount of blood, gripping his chest in intense pain. It felt as if he was being stabbed again, one of the most physical pains he had ever felt, and feeling for a second time was not pleasant.

Lelouch realized how fatigued he really was, as he was barely able to even get on his feet. _'How far have I run?'_ Athletics were never his strong suit, but he must have covered some serious ground tonight. Perhaps the fear he felt was a motivator that kept him on his feet for so long? But it had worn off now, and he was left with only his hollow gasps for breath.

With what strength he had left, he started heading up the hill in front of him. Darkness was in full bloom now, with only the light of fluorescent insects guiding his path. He needed to seek refuge at some point. Running all night would leave him exhausted beyond all means, even Suzaku would not be able to function correctly. It didn't help he was going uphill, but he needed a vantage point to try and find _someplace_ to stay for the night.

An old oak tree was standing by its lonesome at the peak of the hill. Beyond it was a sight of the entire land shrouded in shadow only barely illuminated by the moonlight. _'No surrounding cities at all?'_

Lelouch put his weight up against the tree, giving himself a moment to rest while he thought of a plan. _'Spending the night out here is not ideal, but there is hardly any choice without any houses nearby. I need to procure a phone, to contact someone….'_ His mind ran off a few people that may be able to help. _'Suzaku and Nunnally are out of the question. C.C. would be the most likely choice. However, I'm not unsure if she even has a phone anymore…..Jeremiah would be the next option, but if he were off the grid as planned, I'd have no way to actually call him, or I would have to make my way to the farm on foot which would be difficult even knowing where it is.'_

The moonlight was barely able to show anything up ahead of him, except for a few lights in the distance. It was a start, though he would still have to be careful. He was still the greatest villain in history if one person were to recognize him than the entire Zero Requiem would be at stake. Either way, he had to get going.

The second he took a step, he felt his chest start to burn, and his heart began to convulse. Lelouch fell to his knees, his scar pulsing as if it had a heart of its own. _'What… is this?'_ He nearly screamed as memories began to fill his mind. Euphy's body as she fell, the pain on her face as the light left her eyes. _Flash_ Shirley's lifeless corpse, tears still streaked on her face. _Flash_ The Toyko settlement disappearing into FLEIJA's light, Nunnally's face evaporating in a bright pink hue. Each one increasing the pain tenfold. More images ran through his mind, sending chills down his spine as the pain in his chest turned cold and sharp. His entire life flashing before his eyes once again, but not memories of warmth and light, like his first time at death's door, but the searing, painful memories he would rather forget. _Flash_ ' _Please, you can't! We may have different mothers, but you and I are still blood!'_

Lelouch gave out a cry of pain, and just like that, the pain disappeared, like a summer breeze. He gasped for air his chest no longer throbbing, but his body covered in sweat. He fell on his back in complete exhaustion. He had no idea what that was. Perhaps it was a side effect on whatever they did to him when he arrived at the facility?

"Can't think of that now, just gotta get shelter" he told himself as he tried to sit up. His body was still weak. He could barely get to his knees after his episode.

 _'Things would have gone better if Suzaku had just...'_ his thoughts trailed off as he looked towards the sky. His entire body went numb. As part of his training to be a royal, he was versed in all matter of subjects, one of them being Astronomy. As a child, it was one of his favorite topics to learn, the idea that somewhere millions of miles away was another world out there excited him, and he worked hard to memorize the night sky. However, as time went on, he pressured to focus on other areas of study.

So now looking at the night sky and seeing a shattered moon and completely unrecognizable star systems, it finally dawned on him. The technology, the topography, the cat-people, the unknown city that stood behind him, he finally understood. He was no longer on earth. He was somewhere else entirely.

With the realization now washing over him, he sat there, trying to process. Lelouch began to find humor in his error; he then began to chuckle at his paranoia and began to laugh as he came to terms with the absurdity of it all. The numbness he had felt earlier had slowly become a tickle that he was not able to control. He was not dead in the streets; he was not in Japan, nor was he in a tomb somewhere in Britannia, nor was not in the hands of his enemies.

He was nowhere.

Slowly his laughter came to a stop. He looked out in the night sky, below the broken moon and for the first time in a long time, he felt…..calm. He doesn't even know how to deal with that as a small smile cracks his face.

"I am lost" he joked to himself.

"More than you know" he heard from behind him.

Lelouch turned around and saw the girl, Ruby, behind him. The moonlight beamed on her as she arose from the tree line.

"Oh, did my misdirect not work on you?" Lelouch asked.

"It almost did, I just happened to look down the other road and saw the path the motorcycle actually went. Seeing how the damage of the motorcycle didn't match where you left it. Pretty sneaky moving it like that. Unfortunately, Yang isn't as impressed."

"I suppose I did overreact" Lelouch admitted. "Caught in my panic I suppose. If given time I could have gotten away."

"You don't even know where you are! Leaving the Kingdom was the worst thing you could have done!" She then took out that device she had earlier, a Scroll, and looked at a clock. "Speaking of which, we gotta take you back to the hospital. We need to get you help. Hey, are you even listening?"

He actually wasn't. He was only half paying attention to her. Instead, he looked up at the stars in the sky and a more curious looking moon. Judging on what had happened just today, he shouldn't even be here. He was supposed to be dead. He was to atone for his crimes, for what he had done for the sake of a better world. Yet here he is, in a world unknown. Once again, he had deceived Suzaku and Nunnally, though not actually intentional. _What would they think of this? I'd suppose they could be a little jealous, me in a new place with new people, or just happy I'm still alive after all of this...'_

He thought back to childhood, how Nunnally and his other siblings would often gather under the night sky like this while Lady Liber, the palace's historian, would read them a story. The memory caught Lelouch by surprise. He hadn't thought of the old lady since they had left for Japan. He wondered how she faired since then.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Ruby sprang in front of him, breaking his line of thought; he had almost forgotten she was there.

"Come on we have to get you back to the hospital, to get you fixed up." Ruby nearly dragged him up to his feet as he chuckled.

"I don't think the fall had wounded me that much."

"No, not that! Your heart is really damaged with scars."

"Oh?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, and if we don't do something soon you will die, so come on we have to get going!"

"Why?" He asked, still not engaged in the conversation she was trying to establish. Ruby, on the other hand, was getting annoyed by the fact that the guy was not listing to her.

"Why? Because you're going to die!" she yelled, exasperated and angry.

Lelouch looked straight into her silver eyes, his cold stare mildly unsettling. "So?"

There was nothing. A chilled silence stood between the two. The cold indifference in his voice sobering as Ruby's eyes began to widen, processing what he just said. The back of her legs suddenly felt weak, not fully understanding. _'Does he want to die? That can't be right.'_ "You...no" she stammered out, trying to distance her mind from his response.

"Believe what you want," he told her honestly. "I don't care what happens to me."

"But...But you could have family or friends, something to hold on to! Just because your memory is gone doesn't mean you don't have people that love you!"

"No, I know my heart, and I have nothing. I have no attachments. No real reason for living. Huh, how Ironic" he laughed to himself, thinking back to that moment before Saitama, almost feeling the gun barrel he put to his own head.

"Well what about Nunnally? Couldn't she be your reason for living?"

Lelouch's body went rigid at the name of his sister. A slow panic started to erupt in his mind that quickly transitioned to anger. ' _Who was this girl, to invoke Nunnally 's name? Did she learn about his identity? No, I'm not on earth anymore so she would not know me.'_

"How did you..." He began to ask.

"You mumbled it after we found you. Sorry again for slamming you into a cave" She

confessed slightly embarrassed. "Who is she?"

He went silent; the anger that was boiling up inside of him no longer there. She waits for him to say something, but he doesn't.

Ruby gave an exhausted sigh. "Look, I don't know if this whole 'amnesia' thing is an act or not, or even you if you remember more than what you were telling us, but I don't think you are a bad person. That much I can tell, but your life? Whatever might have happened in your past? It doesn't matter now. I wanna save as many people as I can, that includes you."

"You can't possibly know what kind of person I am." Lelouch told her, the images from his last episode flashing in his mind again. "You can't possibly know that."

"Oh I can. I am a great judge of character." Ruby smiled with her hands on her hips.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Oh, what do you know?" She retorted.

They both shared a light-hearted chuckle.

"It's part of my job, being a Hunteress and all."

"You say that like it means something"

Ruby puts her finger on her lips, trying to think the proper words. How does one describe a Huntsmen, especially someone who doesn't know what they are? Lelouch lazily shifts his gaze a little beyond the hill. _'Wait. That orange glow wasn't there before…'_

Ruby noticed the glow coming from behind her and quickly turned around.

"Forest fire?" Lelouch asked

"No, trouble."

Ruby grabbed something strapped to her back, a red box-like object. In an instant, a barrel, scope, and trigger popped out. Then with a flick of her fingers, the object transformed again. The rear end of the weapon extended itself into a poll while the body of the firearm morphed and bent, revealing a curved blade. Before Lelouch could properly blink the weapon had transformed itself into a mechanical scythe.

 _'So the gun is also a blade?'_ Lelouch could barely believe what he just saw. _'….This place is strange'_

"Stay here, I am going to go help" she declared, walking toward the edge of the cliff.

"Wait? What are you going to do? Do you have a plan?" Lelouch asked as Ruby reached the edge.

"Help" she announced with a radiant sense of dedication. It was almost as she had just finished a dramatic speech. Unfortunately, Lelouch's heart wasn't quite swayed. They were standing of a cliff that was at best a 30 feet drop. "Well that's nice and all but do you have a..."

Before he finished the thought, she jumped off the cliff, leaving behind a trail of rose petals all the way down.

Lelouch looked off the edge to see the petals swarm towards the small village. "That's certainly interesting."

* * *

 **Ruby**

[ _NO SIGNAL_ ]

Guess calling the team will be out of luck. She was too far away from the CCT for her to get a signal out to her friends. She should have never have left Yang alone, but who could have seen this coming? So Ruby was going into this fight by herself and without back-up.

 _'Some leader I am….'_ she thought to herself. She felt that now Team RWBY has come back together, that they would be just like they used to be. That they would have solid teamwork, were all thinking on the same wavelength. saving the day with a few laughs, but not anymore.

If this morning was anything to go by, those qualities that team RWBY had were gone. Yang doesn't listen to her, Blake is distracted, and Weiss is out of practice. ' _Maybe I was wrong; maybe the team will never truly be back together again….'_

She shook those thoughts out of her head. _'No, we are as close as we ever were. We just need to keep practicing. Team RWBY isn't dead yet!'_ They had long since past the point of no return. For now, she will keep going down her road, and face those bandits attacking the village. As much as she wanted to go grab Yang, she didn't have time to wait, not when she has a job to do. Sure she doesn't know if she was going up against, but on the bright side, neither do they.

She quickly approached the village border, the protective walls in shambles, buildings letting out torrents of smoke as the flaming embers burned the night sky.

"Help!"

Immediately Ruby saw a woman harassed by a bandit. He had cornered her with their knives drawn, and she did _not_ like the look in his eyes.

"Hey!" Ruby burst forward with her speed semblance sending the guy into a lamp post bending it. Luckily he was wearing a helmet that was a little too small for him.

"You okay?" she asked the villager, who nodded. Just then a bullet came flying by, passing Ruby by just a hair. She turned to see 3 more guys heading towards her ' _Oh no. more people!'_

As Ruby got ready to fight, the woman grabbed her leg. "My son! They took my son!" tears came out of her eyes, with a face of both horror and fear.

"Go and try to get somewhere safe, I'll find him" she directed the villager. "I got these guys!" The villager silently nodded and ran into a nearby building.

As the three bandits closed in, Ruby prepped her scythe with some electric rounds and rushed forward, knocking the first one down into the ground so hard, he immediately fell unconscious. Ruby quickly capitalized on the confusion and slammed the second guy into a shop window with her backswing. The third bandit managed to get a good strike to her neck right before she shot an electric round into his chest, throwing him into a nearby wall as he slumped over.

She took a breath. _'I gotta hurry. I'm sure they are gonna be looking for these guys'_ Using all the stealth ability that she could muster, she started searching for the perpetrators. After a minute, she found herself facing the back of what appeared to be a crowd of people with various styles of clothing, all colored variations of red, black, and grey. _'Didn't Yang say Aunt Raven's tribe use those colors?'_

They seemed to be just looking at a bonfire in the street. _'The Grimm are going to show up any minute now. Just what are they doing?'_

Ruby did not have time to linger on that question when she heard the sound of chains. She turned, and in her shock and horror, she saw men women and some children all lined up as the fire started to break out of containment.

"Listen, here!" a man's voice cried out over the roaring flames. "We don't have a lot of time, so I will get to the chase. The Grimm will be at our feet soon and feast upon all of y'all. So I am going to give you a choice. We are big on choices here in the Branwen tribe."

Ruby quietly made her way closer, careful not to make a sound. She quickly counted the number of bandits. There was just short of 12 in her line of sight. The skills of these people were not much, but she didn't want to take on that many at once. She was not Yang.

"So here is the deal; we here are looking to expand our ranks. But at this time we have so many mouths to feed, so we can only save _some_ of you." He smiled, revealing a gap in his teeth. "The strongest of you."

He gestured to his comrades, having them walk up and throw several knives at the feet at the villagers.

"Have fun."

A chill ran down Ruby's spine. She needed to stop this somehow. She needed to separate them so she can save the villagers.

The closest thing next to Ruby was a stone. She picked it up and hurled it across the street, with the hopes of distracting some of them. However, in the heat of the moment, a bandit walked in front of her semblance charged shot. Instead of flying clear across the road, it slammed full force into his head. The plus side, it knocked him out. Downside? Now everyone in the town knew where she was. _'…..Oops'_

"Uhhhh…Hi?" Ruby waved in a welcoming manner. This action did not stop the bandits from attacking her.

"Get her!" the shady man yelled.

The nearest bandit reached to grab her, but in that instant, she activated Crescent Rose and jousted into some of his friends. _'I guess I am fighting 11 people now'_

They were as strong as she thought they were. She was able to block most of the punches kicks and stabs with her weapon, even with how bad she was at hand-to-hand. One of them landed a solid punch to her face though, that one kind of hurt. It caught the guy off guard. She guessed that he wasn't expecting it to connect. Ruby then blasted him into the crowd of villagers.

"Get out! run!" The crowd began to run in all directions, however, the Shady man was not having it.

"No one is going anywhere!" He pulled a gun out in the air and aimed it at one of the children. Ruby used her semblance and knocked him back before he could fire a shot.

"You okay?" she asked the little girl. The girl looked up and gave a small nod.

 _'Okay, this is good! I got this!'_ Without warning, the main guy she knocked away literally _bounced_ back and hit her like a freight train, sending her straight back into a burning building.

Ruby couldn't breathe, the smoke burning her lungs with each breath. Her eyes were not much help, and she couldn't see that much through the smoke. She was barely able to get back on her feet. _'Was that a semblance?'_ She shook her head as she readied her scythe. _'It doesn't matter. I got to help the villagers!'_ She activated her own semblance with all the aura she had left and broke through the room, straight at the bandit's leader, Crescent Rose in her 'war scythe' mode.

She let out a scream as a flurry of rose petals charged at him, but right as she got close, her aura broke. A flurry of rose petals quickly turned into a girl landing face first in the dirt at the bandit leader's feet.

"Well Well Well," The leader said to himself, each word like a pat on the back as he spoke. "Someone clearly underestimated us."

Ruby slowly got to her feet. The lack of aura left her exhausted, but she was still able to move, so that was a plus. She looked for Crescent Rose, only to see had landed a couple of feet away. _'If I could just get to her…'_

Before she could even move towards it, she felt something grab her cloak. She glanced back and saw another bandit had hold of her.

"Ahh, Gray" the leader said standing just a couple of feet away from them, slowly making his way back to the fire. "Thanks for nabbing that one for us. She has caused us a lot of issues" The leader looked back behind him and shouted. "Go and find any stragglers." He then gestured to Ruby "And take care of her for letting our prisoners loose"

She heard the bandit pull out a gun and cock it. She knew that she was about to be killed. Ruby focused on raising her aura. _'I have nothing left at all…'_. Even with all this on her mind, she smiled. _'At least the villagers got away. That's what matters'_ The bandit's leader pulled out what seemed to be a walky-talky and started to talk in it. "Hey, did you guys do a full sweep yet?"

"Yea, there is no one left here its best if we... oh wait we might found something."

"Well secure it" he then gestured at his comrade to hurry up and shoot her.

Ruby's life started flashing before her eyes. She saw all the moments with her friends, all her favorite childhood memories. She remembered all the stories Yang used to tell her, all the games she played with her father, sparring with Uncle Qrow. All these memories came to her like a flood. Yet she couldn't help but wish that she could have done more, to be a better leader to her friends, a better daughter to her dad, and a better huntress to the world. Just like her mother was. In the end, Ruby was content with it. She did her best; she lived her life. Now she was going to lose it to some sharp chinned low-life.

 _'Wait a minute...'_

"Shady we have a problem," the voice said on the talky

"What is it?" The leader growled.

Ruby looked closer at her captor, immediately recognizing the outfit of the bandit she fought earlier. But now the guy seemed skinnier, and his helmet seemed to fit him better than it did 5 minutes ago. And the uniform seemed to be baggier. The longer she looked at him, the more she began to doubt that it was the same guy.

"We found a few of our guys knocked out in the street, but that's not the weird part"

Everything suddenly clicked for Ruby. She let out a small grin. _'I knew I was right about him!'_

The leader raised an eyebrow at the walkie talkie "It's Gray! Someone stole his clothes!"

Before the leader could react, the gun that held Ruby was now pointed elsewhere. Two gunshots were heard before the whole world lit up.

* * *

 **Just like that Chapter 3 is done. Sorry that it took so long to update this fic, the last one took a lot out of me, then I had new fic ideas that wouldn't let me concentrate. I promise next time it won't take another (looks at the watch) year to write the next chapter. Sorry, this one is a bit shorter than the other chapters but I like to think it has more character this time around, and perhaps a hint of what's to come. Once again I would like to thank my Beta Reader RandomName3064 for doing such an amazing job looking through this story. He has done an amazing job all around, props to you my dude.**

 **speaking of which**

* * *

 **RandomName3064:** **thanks for waiting on my slow ass again. thank r/RWBY Reddit and Discord for a bit of writing tips. go sub to em**

* * *

 **As for what I am doing next, well hopefully I will finish the second chapter of Who is Zero, First Words, Darklist and then back too here. Maybe some other projects in between.**

 **I can't promise that it will be in that order. But I will promise to do my best.**

 **See you guys next time.**


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